Pregnant Clause
by Basmathgirl
Summary: In a post-apocalyptic world, the Doctor finds out that Donna has become pregnant, and must find a way to keep her and the upcoming baby safe [using a prompt request from Imagine Your OTP].
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** the only thing I can claim here is knowing what it's like to be pregnant.  
**A/N:** this was first posted on tumblr for a prompt given by an Anon.

* * *

**Pregnant Clause**

**Part 1**

.

"COME QUICKLY!" the message on the psychic paper had said, so the Doctor had immediately set a course for the coordinate.

"Who sent it?" Donna inevitably wondered as she stood looking at him anxiously. "It's not going to end the same as last time, is it?"

"We won't know until we open those doors," he had tried to entice her wanderlust. "Shall we?"

She accepted his hand held out in invitation, and stepped out of the TARDIS.

"Not the usual quarry then," she remarked with disdain.

Almost twisting your ankle by stepping awkwardly on a rock can be the reason for turning someone's opinion against a place; but in this instance it was not the case. Before them was a desolate scene, filled with broken buildings, rubble, and an acrid taste in the air. Behind them was evidence of a large fire that had decimated a once grand tower. This had once been a noble city or a badly constructed town; it was really hard to distinguish.

The Doctor automatically moved protectively closer to her side. "This doesn't look good," he near whispered. "Whoever sent us that message was a strong telepath, but we may be too late."

A sad gasp stuck in her throat. "That would be awful," she sympathised. "Do you think they might be near?"

Out came the sonic screwdriver, and he swung it round as he read the signal. "Could be. It's really hard to tell. Something is causing the reading to spike wildly. But there's something else…" He then lifted his head to take in a deep sniff. "Something very familiar, but I can't quite place my finger on it."

"Knowing you you'd try to lick it," she jested, hoping to lighten the mood. "All I ask is that you don't put it in your mouth in front of me."

Still glancing around for any sign of life, he asked, "Why's that?"

"I'm feeling a bit sick, if you must know," she reluctantly admitted. "There must be something in the air that is making me queasy."

"Perhaps we should try moving away from here," he readily suggested. "Where you okay when we left the TARDIS?"

"Yes, perfectly fine," she confirmed as she gingerly stepped over a vicious-looking pile of bricks. "It'll go away in a minute once I've adjusted."

"Have a mint," he offered, producing from his expansive pocket a bag containing fondant mints.

Donna cautiously peered into the bag to double check that it did indeed contain mints, and plucked one out. "Mmm, that tastes good," she enthused as the spearmint hit her palate and soothed her stomach. "Keep that bag handy, just in case."

In reply, he ignored her whelp of indignation in order to shove the bag into her brown leather coat pocket. "Here you go; keep them."

"Bloody Martians not understanding personal boundaries," she muttered to herself as she moved away from him and continued to climb warily over the mini mountain. Why did he always have to be so up-close and personal with her? She wished she knew. If she wasn't careful, he'd be licking her face next. She'd seen him do it to other things, like doors and weird objects, so it wasn't exactly improbable to happen.

He followed her, and equally faintly murmured, "I'm not from Mars."

But he knew it was useless to say the words. She'd had him pegged as some sort of Martian from the first day that they had met, and she knew very well that he was from Gallifrey instead. It was just something that she rarely said to rile him; and she was strangely successful when she did. There were quite a few things that she liked to tease him with and normally he was grateful that she did. It was part of the charm of their relationship.

Climbing higher, they could see a lot further; but there wasn't much to cheer them. As far as the distant horizon was desolation and destruction. Evidence of intervention by someone, but who that someone is and why they had done it was another matter. Whoever had once inhabited this landscape had long gone; if they had had any sense.

Suddenly there was a flutter of red cloth to their side that quickly disappeared.

"Did you see that?" the Doctor whispered closely into Donna's ear as his senses went on alert.

She nodded. "I did. What do you think it was?"

"No idea yet, but somebody must have waved it." He jerked his head silently to the side, suggesting that she follow him in the direction where they had seen the mystery object; and then he took her hand to make sure that she did.

They hadn't taken five steps when a voice rasped out, "Over here!"

Wordlessly accepting the challenge, they climbed towards the voice, and weren't at all surprised when a head bobbed up. It was a young man, probably no older than eighteen, who stared at them in horror.

A panel, held in place by three bricks, slowly lifted.

"Get in here quick!" he grated. "Unless you fancy being fodder."

Fodder for what? Not wanting to find out yet, they clambered down into the hole beneath the panel in order to meet the boy. He fidgeted about, making sure the panel was back in place securely before he even attempted to greet them. Turning to face them, he switched on a torch and brought back some semblance of normality with its light.

They were stood inside some sort of dugout. No doubt it was something very similar to one found during WW1. As usual, the Doctor took the lead.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor and this is Donna." he added in a small wave with his spare hand. The other one was holding on tightly to Donna.

The lad seemed rather put out by this, as though he had no idea how to respond. "I am Harden. You really shouldn't have been walking about out there."

"We're a bit new around here, Harden," the Doctor continued as though they had just walked into a different office rather than a bunker. "Can you tell us why we were in danger."

Harden gulped nervously. "Because of the Dreadel. They come out near night time to feed."

"A what?" Donna blurted out.

"And these Dreadel are dangerous because…?" the Doctor encouraged Harden to explain.

"They like humanoid flesh, d'uh!" Harden supplied, as though they were thick not to know. "Where have you been hiding since the invasion not to know that?"

"We tend to keep ourselves very much to ourselves," the Doctor vaguely answered.

"We travel about quite a bit, so we missed the whole invasion," Donna helpfully added. "You wouldn't believe how out of touch we are."

It looked as though Harden was having a hard job believing anyone could miss so much. "Don't be daft! Everybody remembers the Dreadel coming here."

Donna immediately queried inaudibly under her breathe, "Dear Del? Don't tell me; we've stumbled onto a scheme to become millionaires by this time next year, Rodders."

Stifling an answering chuckle, the Doctor shook his head and plastered on a silly grimace. "We honestly don't know about the Dreadel. Are you also saying that you didn't send us a message?"

"What message?" Harden wondered, sounding somewhat irritated. "I don't know what you're on about! The Dreadel came about six months ago to try and treat us like fish in a barrel. We fought back, with bombs, tanks, anything we could find; but they still picked us off, one by one." There was a loud sniff as he wiped a hand down his face. "I've no idea how many of us are left. Communications were kicked out quite early on."

Realisation hit the Doctor. "This is Hureenax, isn't it!"

"Yeah. Why? Were you expecting somewhere else?" Harden sarcastically confirmed his suspicions.

Instead, the Doctor leaned into Donna's personal space again, to explain, "Hureenax is a human colony that was attacked late in the forty-ninth century. By the time their distress signal was answered and help arrived, it was like finding the Marie Celeste."

"Oh great. This is straight out of a horror film. Thank you so much for bringing me here, Spaceman," she bit back. "I've always fancied playing the dumb blonde bimbo who runs towards the killer."

All he did was glance up at the top of her head. "Surely you are lacking in a vital feature for that?"

She merely glared at him. "Look, you are lacking in the brainy stakes at the moment, but do you hear me criticising you for it?"

Pretending momentarily to ponder this question, he answered, "It is one of the things you often bring up. Talking of which…?"

"I have felt better," she confessed.

"Excuse me, but what are you and your wife going on about?" Harden cut into their conversation.

"Oh we're not married…"

"We aren't a couple…"

Harden watched the mutual swivelling of fingers in front of him in confusion. "Then why were you holding hands like that? You're not exactly selling your story," he dismissed their words. "Anyway, I don't care. All I thought about was getting you to safety."

"And very thankful we are for that, Harden," the Doctor grinned at him. "Is there anyone else around here we could talk to?"

Harden slowly shook his head. "Everyone else I knew got eaten, although there were rumours of a settlement on the other side of the city."

"So you're all alone," Donna sympathetically stated. "How awful. You can definitely stick with us, can't he, Doctor?"

He flashed her an anxious gaze. "We shall need to talk about that but we certainly won't leave you on your own."

"I don't need your pity!" Harden protested. "I've been here surviving longer than you have."

"Oh, I'm a past master at surviving," the Doctor mildly boasted.

"Yeah, he… Ooh, I really don't…," Donna mumbled, and then to their dismay she folded up like a deckchair onto the dirt.

"Donna!" the Doctor cried out as he desperately reached out to break her fall. Within seconds he had her closely embraced as he scanned her with his sonic screwdriver.

"What's the matter with her? Is it infectious?" Harden frantically queried. The last thing he wanted was to go down with some horrible illness.

"No, you have nothing to worry about; you can't catch this," the Doctor tightly revealed as he finished his scan. "Come on, Donna," he murmured. "You're okay. You're with me."

"Where am I? What happened?" she asked as she came to. "Don't tell me I passed out."

"Okay, I won't," he quipped, smiling to comfort her.

"Oh gawd. How embarrassing," she faintly complained. "Go on then; you're dying to tell me what's wrong with me. Just spit it out. It must be bad judging by your face. How long have I got?"

Taking another chance to read the sonic, he airily guesstimated, "I'd say you've got another thirty two weeks."

She frowned up at him from where they still sat together on the hard earthen floor. "Why are you talking in weeks instead of months? People only do that when they're talking about…" She then loudly gasped in shock. "Please tell me I'm not!"

Oh dear! This didn't look promising. "I won't lie to you, Donna. You're eight weeks pregnant."

"Congratulations!" Harden broke the sudden silence by proclaiming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

.

"But… How?" Donna stammered. "I can't be pregnant; I haven't done anything."

"You obviously have," Harden countered, and then felt the full force of her glare of death. "I'm just saying," he then defended himself, taking a tiny step backwards. "It is part of the whole marriage speech thing."

"Harden, you are not helping," the Doctor tersely told him. "And don't! Just don't!" he continued, waving a threatening digit in the boy's face.

A sulky pout appeared on Harden's face. "I only said."

Ignoring him, the Doctor returned his attention to Donna. She still seemed to be slightly numb with shock, and it worried him when she was quiet. "Think carefully, Donna. Is there anyone who could possibly be the father of this child?"

She shook her head. "No one. I can't think of anyone."

"No one that isn't sitting in front of her," snorted Harden scornfully from the other side of the dugout.

Another evil glare was shot in his direction.

"Are you sure?" the Doctor continued, talking as softly and as non-judgementally as he could. "Anyone that could have seduced or drugged you?"

When she shook her head again, Harden let out an exasperated sigh. It was bloody obvious to him who the father was, so why couldn't she see it?

Rounding on him, Donna demanded to know, "What is it with you? I know you're a spotty hormonal teenager who hasn't had a decent role model in months, but you are bloody hard work! So help me, I'll smack you one in a minute if you don't shut up. You are doing my head in!"

Inevitably, Harden looked to the Doctor for sympathy against this woman berating him.

"It's no good looking at him," she spat out. "He knows which side his bread is buttered."

"You mean you've got him well trained," Harden spitefully retorted.

With a roar of anger, she lunged up at him from her spot on the floor, but was caught by the Doctor before she could take more than one step towards the boy in anger; and he held on tightly to her waist.

"It really is unwise to rile Donna, especially considering the news she has just received," he warned the lad, who stared back at him, horror-struck by the ferocity of her potential attack. "And for the record, I did not seduce her nor am I under her thumb. My actions are guided by knowing what fights to pick."

His last statement drew guarded disbelieving looks from both of his companions, but he decided to let it rest. There were other more pressing matters to deal with.

"And to think I was concerned about him when we first met him," Donna muttered to the Doctor from where he held her against his chest.

A bob of his eyebrows showed he knew she would continue to be concerned about the teenager despite her words. It would be out of character for her to do anything else but care deep down. "Getting back to the original subject; you mentioned a settlement, Harden. What do you know about it?"

Harden was startled by this sudden topic change. He wanted to discuss this discovered pregnancy of Donna's more, and why the Doctor was adamantly denying it must be his child. It threw up numerous questions in his mind. Why were they acting like a married couple but saying stuff that contradicted that? It was puzzling and a very welcome distraction from the daily grind of staying alive.

So he shrugged his shoulders, like any good teenager would do. "I dunno. Not a lot. I heard from a few people I've met that there are lots of others huddled together in a place over on the other side of the city. I don't remember where exactly, as the destruction has changed things quite a bit."

"I see," the Doctor mumbled to himself. Could it be that the person who had sent the psychic message was in this distant settlement? It was a start in his search, so he opened his mouth to ask the next obvious question. "Would you show us the way?"

"You really want to go?" a startled Harden wondered. Who in their right mind would want to? These people were a completely different kettle of fish compared to the hermits he normally ran into. "I suppose I could, but not right now. It isn't safe, remember. The Dreadel particularly like twilight and dusk to move about out there."

"We'll wait until sunrise then," the Doctor declared decisively, and then swept his gaze around their temporary home. "Where do you usually sleep?"

"Over there," Harden supplied, pointing to a small mound of grey and dark brown fabric. "You and your w-Donna can use it if you like," he politely added.

The Doctor, however, did not need the brief scowl from Donna to know that she wouldn't want to deprive the boy of his bed, for several reasons. "Thank you, but no. If it's okay with you, we'll find a spot to place ourselves for the night." Donna nodded along with his words.

"Suit yourselves," Harden replied, shrugging again at them with his well-worn attitude. "No skin off my nose."

"So tell me, Harden, how did you come to live in this particular pile of rubble?" the Doctor genially asked to open the conversation before sleep could be sought.

The lad sat himself more comfortably down, took off the water bottle that had been slung around his torso, but not the knife in its holder, and began to relate his tale. "I don't really come from here, but a little village called Thumster out in the west. Do you know it? I was sent here to look for work…"

They sat listening to his story of how the Dreadel had appeared one day like a swarm of invading wasps. The local people had tried to fight them off, had seemed to succeed at first, but there had been a second wave of Dreadel that were armed to the teeth. He had lost his workplace, his co-workers, all communication with his family, and anyone else he had ever known. There had been a few survivors, but many preferred to live like hermits since the Dreadel seemed to be able to sense when two or more inhabitants were together, and would hunt them in the low light to feed. It was best to treat strangers as friends, he had found, that would pass on by. That was how they had continued to survive and defy the thieving mouths that would readily seek them out if they could.

But it was rumoured that a major settlement had survived, where a township of a sort battled on, with proper defences and ammunition that may not have beat off the Dreadel for good but it certainly kept them alive.

The name of this dwelling was something like Healing-tum…? No, Helicktum or something, Harden resolved after some moments of thinking.

Sitting quietly watching and listening to the lad before them describe his plight, and the losses that he glossed over, Donna spotted an item that looked slightly out of place in the dugout. It was a shoe, a tiny, once white leather shoe.

Waiting for a break in the conversation, she posed her question, "Harden, were you here on your own or was there someone with you?"

His posture stiffened immediately, and in the low fading light they could make out the wet gleam to his eyes.

"Yes, there was someone. I wasn't always on my own," he confessed, having thought it through and decided these people would not mock or judge him. "I had my little sister."

"What happened to her?" the Doctor gently asked.

"She er…" There was a distinct sniff, but no one remarked on it. "Calina was taken quite early on. They ripped her out of…" A sob tried to rise up from Harden's throat at this point, so Donna reached across and placed a consoling hand on his arm.

"It's okay. There's no need to say anymore. We're so sorry," she said in sympathy.

"Yeah, well," Harden spluttered, and wiped at his eyes. "She's gone now and I'm on my own."

"What are we? Scotch mist?" Donna queried, managing to make him smile, just a little. "You've got us now."

"Donna," the Doctor whispered in warning.

But she chose to dismiss it. "I know the problem, and I am not leaving him. Last time wasn't our fault."

"Fault?" Harden repeated in question.

Glancing cautiously at Donna, the Doctor took a deep breath before he explained, "We had to leave my daughter when she was killed."

To Harden's surprise, Donna then wrapped her arms around the Doctor's shoulders, offering comfort and support as he sat in silence. Was this a cultural custom of their people, or was such an intimate act allowed in front of him now that Donna had hinted at including him into their family? He wished he knew in that moment, as such a display made him feel uncomfortable.

As for Donna, she knew the awkward stuff wouldn't properly start until Harden was fast asleep; and she was right.

* * *

In the gloom they sat next to each, partly to share warmth, partly to reassure each other that better worlds existed somewhere else in the galaxy. In amongst his bundle of rags, Harden slept on, puffing out loud bursts of breath that alternated with soft little snores.

The Doctor and Donna sat in silence, willing the other to start this conversation that loomed between them. Eventually it was Donna who snapped. She was tired, hungry and the last thing she wanted was a petulant Time Lord scolding her.

"Go on then, out with it," she encouraged his inevitable questions.

"Okay," he mumbled, and changed position to give his aching leg some relief. "You're taking being pregnant awfully well. Do you have something to tell me?"

Oh dear! He sounded as pissed off with her as she had expected. "Does anyone take the news well that doesn't want it?"

"Don't you?" he shot at her.

He had her on that one, she had to admit. "I would have done in different circumstances. You know, in that La-la-land where I'm loved by a wonderful man that I've married. But I'm not, and never will be, let's face it. The possibility of that ship sailed long ago."

More silence; then his accusing voice pierced her heart. "Then who is he?"

She quickly placed a hand on his, wanting to show the sincerity of her words. "I didn't have a sneaky bunk up behind the bike sheds, if that's what you think. Honest I didn't. Come to think of it, the only man I've kissed recently, apart from Gramps, was you, and I hardly think that counts."

"Pregnancy and sex can be obtained without kissing," he pointed out, somewhat testily. "Please do not insult my intelligence."

"Doctor," she snivelled, "I really don't know how I got this way or who did it."

"Calculating the time of conception, it was either during our time on Messaline, or very close to it." He waited for the question inside his mind that he wanted to shout out to quieten down before he opened his mouth. "Did anyone touch you; in the Atmos factory, or one of General Cobb's men? Tell me, Donna. I promise not to be angry with you. As for them… I cannot promise anything of the kind."

Could it have been one of them? Her head had been trying to work it out ever since he had confirmed her worse suspicions. Martha had mentioned that Jack's department often used a drug called Retcon to wipe away victim's memories. Had it been used on her by someone? Horrified by this thought, she suddenly burst into tears.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

"Donna!" the Doctor cried out in despair, wrapping her within his firm embrace. "It will be okay, I promise. I'll help you cope." He added in a consoling caress to her hair.

"That isn't it," she whispered from her spot wedged into the skin of his neck, just above his collar. "How did I get like this? Why would someone want to do this to me? I mean, I've never been anyone's first choice for anything."

"I'm sure that isn't true," he countered sympathetically.

"Okay," she reluctantly conceded, "I get picked when they want work done, but the normal everyday things like love, marriage, and children are for other people, not me."

Sensing a good opportunity to distract her, he pondered, "Are you saying you chose to come with me because you can't have those things?"

She pulled slightly away to answer, "No, that isn't the case and you know it, you prawn. And I know your game, mister, so don't try to avoid the question. Who would want to get me pregnant?"

Blowing his cheeks out as he pondered her question, he admitted, "I don't know who would do this to you in such a way." He then cuddled her tighter. "Why don't you try to sleep for a while? You must be very tired."

"I am," she replied, and tenderly reached up to touch his cheek. "Thank you, Spaceman, for not abandoning me."

"I'd never do that to you," he readily vowed.

"Good, because you're lumbered with me too."

With a happy sigh, he adjusted his hold on her, kissed her forehead and let her drift into sleep.

* * *

It was at first light that Harden woke up and roused himself to look at his visitors. They had started the night propped up together but had slowly slunk over enough to lie closely wrapped around each other as the night has progressed. He thought it was rather sweet, not that he would have told them; it reminded him of how his parents had once been, long long ago before the Dreadel had turned up and ruined his world.

It had been hard to resign himself to the fact that they were probably dead, but he had finally done it. Everything would be done in their honour, he had decided. Calina, his little sister, had momentarily been rescued by him when he had found the village burned to the ground; it had felt like such a blessing to find her. Alas, their time together had been limited, and she had been hunted down, ripped from his hands as he had tried to hold on tight. The terror of trying to pull her back into his then home would no doubt haunt him for the rest of his life.

Thinking on this, he realised the usual haunting had not occurred in its customary manner. Somehow he had managed not to wake up his guests by screaming. Did this mean that he had finally had a break from that nightmare? Or were they heavy sleepers? Only time would tell.

Looking across at the Doctor and Donna, he found his curiosity rising again. Despite their protests, they did not act like friends or brother and sister. What were they to each exactly? They spoke of being travellers, and had hinted at being on other worlds. How was that possible? He made a mental note to ask. That could wait until later, for now they had to find something to eat.

It must be close to three days since he had last eaten anything redeemable as food; although there had been the odd lick here and there. And he needed fill up his water bottle with fresh water. His normal supply was safe for now, but that may not be the case for very long. Once upon a time the water had flowed crystal clear and easy to find. Sadly, that wasn't the case anymore. You took what you could find, no matter what state it was in. but he had managed to avoid those horrible stomach diseases many had succumbed to after the invasion.

Grabbing up the water bottle, he silently clambered out.

* * *

The Doctor roused from sleep just as Harden stepped back into the dugout, and peered in curiosity. Harden lifted up his water bottle as explanation, keeping to a wordless exchange. Well, he had no desire to anger Donna again as she continued to sleep on. Who knew what she'd be like if he accidentally woke her?

It would seem that the Doctor was equally wary, because he glanced at Donna first before making any other comment. "What's it like out there?" he whispered.

"It looks like it'll be muggy later on," Harden replied in similar tones. "It's misty at the moment. Why? What were you planning?"

"To make for the settlement you mentioned last night."

Fear gripped Harden's heart as he asked, "Is that wise?"

"I have no other choice," the Doctor answered. "We need to find the person who sent me the message that brought us here."

"Oh." Harden would have said more but Donna chose that moment to wake up and blink in confusion at the Doctor.

Several emotions played over Donna's face as she properly woke up. Her initial annoyance that the Doctor was sharing her bed was soon replaced by the impact of her current situation. "We're still here then? It wasn't a dream."

"I'm afraid not, love," the Doctor attempted to answer jovially. "Are you able to face a trek towards the other side of the city to find the settlement?"

"Bring it on, Spaceman," she replied with equal cheeriness. "It looks like a nice day for a stroll."

"There's also likely to be fair bit of climbing too, so we should work up an appetite."

"My kind of day." She grinned up at him. "And you are paying when we find a decent restaurant."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he retorted, and gave her a helping hand to get up. "Allons y."

* * *

There was a low haze over the once urban landscape that caused a chill in the air that hadn't been there the day before. They had been walking and scrambling over the landscape for almost four hours since daybreak; with Harden following behind at a respectful distance. He truly believed that they'd be picked off if they travelled closely together. The Doctor stood gazing out as far as they possibly could for the time being. No doubt it would become clearer when the sun got a proper chance to warm the air.

Donna came to stand beside him. "What can you sense, Doctor? Do your Scooby vibes tell you anything?"

Turning to her, he couldn't help smiling in amusement. "If I'm Scooby Doo what does that make you?"

"Oh, I look like Thelma and have the thick brain of Daphne; it's not exactly a great combination, as you can tell," she joked.

Catching hold of her hand, he declared, "You are brilliant, and I won't have you say otherwise."

"Daft Martian," she mocked. "You're turning into a blind charity case too, just like poor Martha."

"And you are blooming into motherhood already," he complimented her, ignoring her attempt to dismiss his efforts to provide worthy praise. It wasn't untrue, because there was a glow to her that enhanced her features. "May I?" he asked, indicating towards her stomach.

Pleased he had asked rather than assumed, she offered, "Help yourself, within reason, of course; but you won't find much to touch at the moment."

Reaching out with his free hand, he quickly jerked it away as soon as it gained faint contact with her midriff. A spike of something had shot up his arm, startling him. "What?!" he blurted out in surprise. "Donna," he cautiously queried, "do you mind if I try a little something else?"

"What sort of something?" she warily questioned as he brought both his hands up to cradle her jaw.

Oh dear! This next action warranted a health warning. "I need to see."

"Doesn't that mean you have to prod my temples?" she asked. "Like when we were on the Oodsphere."

"This requires a little extra attention," he enigmatically answered.

Seeing the controlled intensity within his eyes, she decided to let him do whatever it was that he wanted to do. "Okay."

Obviously he was contemplating how best to go about his query as he gazed into her face, then he thoughtfully rubbed a finger along her bottom lip. What the heck was he playing at? Wanting him to stop tickling her sensitive flesh, she opened her mouth to protest, and he immediately swooped in and covered her mouth with his own. Before she had chance to draw breath, his lips moved to undulate over hers and his tongue invaded beyond her front teeth to taste every nook and cranny of her mouth.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, he broke contact with her, leaving her standing absolutely stunned that it had taken place.

Neither of them was aware of Harden's attention snapping to them from a small distance away, but he wisely kept quiet as the drama before him played out.

"What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?!" eventually shot out of Donna's mouth. "If you are after some sort of cheap thrill, you've come to the wrong person."

"Oh, I know so," the Doctor agreed, confidently regarding her despite the anger being pointed towards him. "I needed a deeper contact than usual to confirm my suspicions, and you, Donna Noble, have just provided it."

A confused frown appeared on her face. "I have? How?"

"By allowing me to taste your hormones whilst trying to gain contact with your unborn child," he explained with a hint of glee that soon disappeared when she continued to scowl at him. "The fact is, and I know you may not like this, and quite frankly I'm not completely delighted myself; I know who the father of your child is."

"Well go on then, who it is, or are you waiting to see a montage of the candidates before you open the golden envelope? Just bloody tell me, you numpty!" she tried not to rage, realisation already stirring within her mind.

Instead he gave her a little arrogant wave. "Hello! He says hello too, by the way."

Denial made her gasp out, "No!"

"Yes; he loves you already. Somebody seems to have stolen my DNA, yet again, to form a child, except this time it will be a proper baby." He then slightly sagged as a thought hit him. "A real developing baby and not one from a loom," he faintly added. "I've never been a father like this before."

"Well isn't that wizard!" she proclaimed. Hearing herself snap at him, she realised how unfair that must have sounded in light of the events of Messaline. "And is it wise for this to happen so soon after your recent… loss?" she gently pondered. "I know it's impossible to replace Jenny, and a baby would totally cramp your style. It'd be a bit hard to act all Oncoming Storm whilst wearing a baby carrier and holding a changing bag." She then gulped nervously. "That's assuming, of course, that you'd want to be involved since this has been forced upon you, and you probably want to dump me and the baby at the first opportunity. Who could blame you? I mean, if you were going to pick out the mother of your child from a line-up you wouldn't exactly want it to be me, would you? Not when there are younger prettier choices available. I've really done it now, haven't I? Our friendship has been totally ballsed-up forever."

Where did she get these ideas? "Donna, I'm not saying that."

But she stepped away from him.

"You don't have to. I can see it in your face, and you won't be the first or the last man to ever feel that way." Unbidden tears began to threaten to fall, much to the annoyance of her pride.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

"That isn't true," the Doctor insisted, wanting to coax her back to him. But she remained regarding him almost wistfully.

Blinking her unwanted tears away, Donna uttered, "I wish! I know Mum won't believe me when I go home and I… I tell her we aren't like that despite me being pregnant with your child; your son. Blimey, those are words I never thought I'd say. But a son! We're having a baby... I'm so sorry this has happened; I really am."

She then moved further away, but her footing slipped on the uneven rubble beneath them, and she shrieked as she painfully hit the surface.

Both the Doctor and Harden rushed towards her, eager to offer assistance, comfort, or anything else that she wanted. With an expert hand, the Doctor smoothed his fingers down her leg to her ankle; that is, he did, until she smacked them away.

"Oi! Hands! What are you playing at, touching me up like that?" she complained.

To which Harden added with deep concern, "What did you do to her? One minute you were snogging the living daylights out of her, the next you're pushing her down onto the ground to grope her."

"No no no no! You've got it wrong," the Doctor protested his innocence. He'd kept hold of one of Donna's hands, surreptitiously monitoring her heart rate. "I was using a method of examination."

Inevitably Harden looked to Donna to see if this was remotely true. She gave a sniff and nodded her head. "He does do that. Everything has to go in or to his mouth, just like a baby... Anyway, I'm alright now, all I've done is wind myself, I think. Is there any permanent damage, Spaceman?"

A broad smile spread across his face as he heard the words that implied he'd been forgiven. "None from what I can tell. Just a bit of potential bruising. Can you get up yet?"

Giving them an encouraging word, they helped her stagger up from their crouched position, and she shook out her limbs; wincing slightly.

"Are you really alright, Donna?" Harden gingerly asked.

"Yeah," she quickly confirmed for him. Blimey! She hadn't realised he could be so thoughtful and sweet. "A bit sore on the old bum, but I'll soon be as right as rain."

"It could have caused more than that, Donna," the Doctor cautioned her. "Perhaps I should keep a tight hold on you from now on."

"I'm not made of glass, you know. I promise I won't break easily," she batted away his concerns.

"Nevertheless," he determined, maintaining a firm grip of her hand, "I don't think we ought to risk another fall."

Sighing, she accepted his concerns, secretly liking them, and let him lead her over the rubble.

* * *

By the time they had reached a point far into the city. It had proven to be a tough walk, and the Doctor had to continually assist Donna over boulder-strewn debris, narrowly missing the odd telegraph pole or street lamp.

As they had travelled along they had exchanged banalities, keeping their spirits up and trying to coerce Harden into joining in their conversation, but he was more intent to keep a constant look out.

The Doctor himself went into panic mode when she stopped, grimaced and dropped his hand in order to clutch her sides. "Donna! Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine," she replied, standing herself straight. "It's just a twinge, nothing to worry about."

"Promise me you'll tell me immediately if anything doesn't feel right," he begged.

"You mean beyond you being eerily concerned about me all the time? Okay," she agreed.

"In what way is it eerie?" he wanted to know.

She shrugged in self-deprecation. "I dunno; you normally aren't that concerned about me."

Indignation roared up within him. "I have always been deeply concerned about you."

"Yeah, yeah, I get the message, so don't get your knickers in a twist," she retorted. "It's just… well… odd the way you're suddenly being attentive; as if I mean something to you."

Wanting the sincerity of his words to reach her, he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Donna, you have always meant something to me."

"Not like that, you div!" she chastised him. "I mean in a more romantic sense. And I do know the difference between being your friend and your _friend_! Martha filled me in on that little matter."

His mouth opened and closed in shock for a few seconds. "I may have deliberately mentioned Rose to Martha when she first started travelling with me, but that was to warn her off more than anything."

Donna quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at him. "If you want to go with that story then I won't contradict you but it doesn't alter the facts about our relationship. And excuse me for being a little self-centred for the moment, but that's what concerns me, right here, right now."

"Have I missed a vital memo?" he asked, taking hold of her hand and using it to wrap her arm around his as they started to walk again. "I thought we were reasonably happy with our relationship."

"I'm not disputing that, you prawn! But things are a little different; okay, a lot different now that we know I'm pregnant with your baby. As I said earlier, the number one choice for someone to be the mother of your child would not be me," she argued.

"And as I was going to reply before we were rudely interrupted by your accident, that is not the case," he countered.

"You what?!" she blazed. "Geroff out of it, you liar."

"Since you obviously won't believe me, I shall point out a few facts about you, if I may."

"Go on then," she encouraged. "I might have to take notes for this one."

"Mock all you like," he sighed. "I have seen you being extremely compassionate, loving, caring, dutiful, and loyal. All excellent qualities for motherhood. And on the day we first met, you showed your maternal instincts by making sure the children were safe and okay when those Christmas tree baubles blew up."

Her faced immediately flushed with embarrassment. "Anybody would have done exactly the same thing."

"No they wouldn't," he disagreed with a shake of his head, loving the sudden blush on her cheeks. "Rose certainly did not display the same instincts."

She made a sound of incredulity. "Pft!"

"Honestly, you provide the ideal maternal package, Donna Noble. I could not choose a finer person to the mother of my child, my partner in crime or…" He swallowed nervously, wondering if he should risk making the offer or not. "…my biodamped non-wife."

"Aw, you say the sweetest things!" she praised him. "Nice try, Spaceman, but I still don't believe you."

Sighing with exasperation, he decided to leave it be and try again later.

* * *

Hours later they were presumably still in the midst of the ruined city. All around them was evidence of once magnificent buildings destroyed beyond recognition, and the piles of rubble just seemed to get bigger. As they journeyed through the landscape, Harden became more and more agitated. The sun had done its job of warming away the eerie mist of earlier in the day, but they had sweated the best part of the day in their exposed position; and now the evening began to beckon. Soon it would be dusk, and with it came the threat of the Dreadel.

His heart was pounding in his mouth now, and he looked across to where Donna was clearly struggling with exhaustion. "I think we ought to find shelter, Doctor, as soon as possible."

The Doctor slowed to a halt, taking in the panic that laid beneath Harden's words. The lad had escaped many horrors on this world, so he obviously knew what he was talking about. "Very well. Where would you suggest we make for?"

"Make it somewhere that won't take too long. My feet and legs are bloody killing me," Donna added. It was the first time she had really complained about their Herculean task that day.

"Erm..." Harden swept his expert eye over the nearby ruins, and found a likely candidate. "That building with the missing fourth floor looks okay."

He pointed to the burnt out remains of what must have been a magnificent skyscraper at one time. With nods of agreement, they began to clamber across to the nearest entrance. They were winded, dying of thirst and grateful to get out of direct sunlight by the time they ventured into the building. Not much of anything noteworthy was left to admire.

"Home from home," the Doctor joked as they deposited themselves down onto some convenient bricks.

"Not exactly a full page spread from the Ikea catalogue, is it?" Donna jested in kind. "But it'll do until we can get the decorators in."

Harden, however, still stood agitatedly by the entrance, peeping out to squint into the sun every now and then. "We need to get further in, out of harm's way," he insisted. "This isn't safe."

The Doctor and Donna shared a concerned glance.

"Harden, why don't you pick out the best spot," the Doctor suggested. "We'll sit here for a few moments longer while Donna catches her breath."

Looking slightly relieved at this, Harden nodded his agreement and shot off into the gloom of the building.

"He's terrified," Donna stated. "It makes you wonder what sort of things he's been through."

"Judging by how he slept last night, I'd hazard a guess at it being pretty bad," the Doctor considered. "Just to be on the safe side, you're sleeping next to me again tonight."

"Doctor, you don't have to do that."

"I know! Doesn't mean I won't do my best to protect you." He gave her a cheeky wink, and got swatted on the arm.

"You're just saying that because I've got a special passenger of yours."

"No, I'm saying it because I care about you, so no thinking otherwise, Donna Noble."

"Oh gawd, he's using my full name again. That means trouble," she remarked to no one in particular.

"It will do if you don't let me look after you."

"You're all heart," she mocked.

"Two hearts, actually," he corrected, and they giggled together.

"Is it wrong of me to be glad it was you?" she confessed in a low voice.

"I don't think so," he admitted. "In fact..."

"Doctor! Donna!" Harden interrupted with a shout. "Quick! This way."

Both of them pulled themselves up and followed his voice.

* * *

He led them to a reasonably empty room, and he scurried about checking windows and nearby doors. "This seems safe enough," he muttered.

All his skittering about was putting Donna's nerves on edge. The air in the room was hot and arid, heavy with anticipation. Not a trace of life could be seen anywhere, not a bird, an insect or a blade of grass. It was most unsettling. As if he could read her thoughts, and part of her reasoned that he might be able to do so now, especially in light of him having stuck his tongue down her throat earlier that day and him being a touch telepath, the Doctor sent her a reassuring smile whilst squeezing her hand. Aw, he could be awfully sweet when he tried hard enough.

Then suddenly an awful noise came from outside, of beating wings and sharp beaks colliding with a scream; like a crow trapped in a dust bin.

"Quick! Down," Harden stage whispered. "It's a Dreadel. It's got wind of us, must have discovered our smell."

"Do we have a strong smell?" she asked the Doctor as he shielded her.

"Well, yes, you do, but I wasn't going to tell you," he cautiously admitted. "All species have their own undertone, with individual highlights for each person. Time Lords are able to detect these things."

"I remember you saying something about being able to smell that clone of Martha's. So you're a walking dog. That figures. It explains all the licking," she teased him, and then added, "and the puppy eyes. Thank goodness you don't go around smelling bottoms, I suppose."

"Donna, I am not a dog. My intellect is far superior," he grumbled.

"Says he, having acted like my guide dog all day," she cheekily retorted. "All that's missing is a leather lead and collar."

Unable to be angry with her, he playfully waggled his eyebrows. "Not in front of the children."

She'd only just got the chance to quietly giggle when something hopped onto a window ledge and landed in the room. A large ominous something.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** there might be a two week long delay with the next part because I will be away from my laptop, and travelling.

* * *

**Part 5**

The bipedal creature that threw itself onto a bare space amongst the rubble was huge, looking like a dark satanic snouted bumble bee as it flicked out its tongue to taste the air. Almost hovering above them for a second, it slightly bounced and adjusted its stance to allow movement of its large head by spreading out its legs and throwing out its spindly arms.

It moved its charcoal black head slowly in each direction, but its shiny dark eyes didn't seem to take in its surroundings otherwise it would have seen them squatting within the strewn bricks and bits of broken furniture that had survived over time.

The Doctor immediately surmised that it used smell over sight as its primary sense, so he performed a little olfactory diversion trick to get it to ignore both him and Donna. Obviously it worked; because the creature swung its head away from them as they crouched mere feet away from it, and its focus became something on the other side of the room. Unfortunately that was Harden as he hid between pieces of debris.

With a sharp intake of breath, Harden tried to move further away, scrunching himself up in his hidey-hole; but the creature had his scent, and it was after blood.

No amount of warning shouts could save him as the creature almost pirouetted gracefully across to snap out its wide-set jaws; but Donna openedher mouth nevertheless, only to have the Doctor's hand clamp firmly over it. This apparently was a Dreadel, an unknown never seen before creature, so he watched its elegant movements with fascination.

It was as if he could read her thoughts in that moment. One of them was 'just get your bloody sonic out, Sunshine!' causing the Doctor to instantly scowl at her. Nevertheless her thoughts continued on with 'him and his curiosity will be the death of us,' which made a contrite expression appear on his face as he released his hold on her to pluck out his sonic screwdriver.

Just as he adjusted the settings on the sonic the Dreadel drew back, and with a fluid motion plunged a claw into Harden's body. A scream was wrenched out of his throat, filling the room with his cries of pain.

Harden was causing a hell of a din, kicking out at the creature with desperate ferocity. He knew his number was finally up but he'd be damned if he'd make it easy to turn him into its latest take away meal.

Looking across to where the Doctor and Donna hid, he saw her half standing as the Doctor stood at his full height waving that blue torch of his about. Just as he was about to shout at them to save themselves, the Doctor stood firmly, pointing his device at the Dreadel as the blue light intensified.

"Get away from him, Dreadel!" the Doctor sternly ordered the creature, blind fury etched on his face. "Or face the consequences."

When it didn't move an inch, a high pitched buzz was emitted, causing the Dreadel to stagger as though trying to hold its head in its claws. With a vengeful screech, it sprang sideways and grabbed Harden around the waist.

This was it. This was definitely it.

"Harden!" Donna yelled out in terror.

He sent a silent prayer to make his ending quick, scrunching his eyes tightly shut, only to open them wide when three people suddenly appeared, armed with long machetes that glinted dangerously in the fading light.

With coordinated care, they lunged at the creature, running back and forth, hacking at its arms until it released its tight grip on Harden. Ignoring him, the creature bit out at its attackers, but they countered each potential blow until it conceded defeat and retreated, wounded, letting out the equivalent of a whimper as it escaped out the window.

The trio put away their blades, clasped each other's arms in mutual victory and then drew their attention to Harden.

"How much are you wounded, little one?" the leader asked. She then smiled to console him. "We have a medic who can help."

Harden lifted away the hand that he had automatically placed over the wound on his side. "I don't think I'm too bad. It's all a bit numb at the moment, to be honest," he admitted and then looked across to Donna and the Doctor in order to smile reassuringly.

"And your parents?" the leader wondered, following his gaze to the man still shielding a woman. "Are they okay?"

"Hello, I'm the Doctor," he announced as he stepped forward whilst Donna immediately rushed over to offer Harden sympathy and a comforting hug. "And this is Donna," he added, lifting a hand towards her and the lad. "Young Harden here is not our son."

"Greetings Doctor and Donna. I apologise for my mistake," the leader stated in a no nonsense manner. "I am Trelban, this is Haug... And this is Jolak," she continued, indicating towards the man and woman by her side.

"Thank you for rescuing me," Harden blurted out, obviously having been prodded by Donna into doing so.

There was a flicker of amusement on Trelban's face for a second. "It is our job to guard and defend. How old are you, little one?"

"I am fifteen summers, and I am not little," he petulantly retorted.

"Oi! Mind your manners," Donna whispered harshly at him. "He's just more than a bit shocked," she told Trelban apologetically, "take no notice of his hissy fit. We're truly grateful you came along."

The Doctor stood by her side, having slowly manoeuvred himself there, and laid a protective hand on her shoulder. "She speaks for all three of us." He then waved a vague finger at their rescuers. "Are there many of you? Or do you guard and defend this building all on your own?"

"We are not as many as we would like," Jolak answered, "but we will defend our people with our last breath."

"So there are lots of you?" the Doctor encouraged her to talk further.

"A whole settlement. I assume you came to seek us out, Doctor," Trelban continued. "Follow us." She had beckoned them to walk as the three turned to depart. "And we will take you to the High Council. It is they who will decide whether your family can stay or not."

"We're not...," the Doctor started to protest, but it felt futile to carry on doing so. Being perceived as a family might work in their favour for a while.

Keeping Harden closer than before, the trio followed their rescuers to this mystery settlement they had heard about. The journey was heavy going.

"That's a new one for us," Donna whispered to the Doctor as they walked further into the building, navigating piles of rubble. "Was I right to keep schtum?"

"It was more than a little unusual for you, but it wasn't wrong," he admitted, helping her to avoid the nastier aspects that would cause her to stumble. "And technically we _are_ a family now."

"Trust you to argue technicalities," she teased, and leaned forward to place a grateful peck on his cheek.

There was an exasperated groan to her side; a very teenage moan.

"Please tell me you aren't going to snog again," Harden pleaded. "It was gross the last time."

"What do you mean, 'last time'?" Donna griped. "Anyone would think we do nothing else, to hear you talk!"

"What about all that lovey dovey-ness," he countered, mumbling and averting his eyes from her piercing stare, "the hair stroking and the forehead kissing."

"I was upset!" she fumed, having mentally knocked points off his loveliness chart. "You and me are going to have words at this rate!" she added with a stab of her finger.

"Donna, careful! Think of your blood pressure," the Doctor cautioned as they had to dip below a low doorway. "Harden, use that brain of yours wisely and don't complain about things that haven't happened yet."

It was on the tip of Harden's tongue to make a retort, but they passed through a tunnel that ended with a nameplate declaring where they were: Heiligtum.

"That means 'sanctuary'," the Doctor whispered to Donna as they walked by it.

"Like shelter from an unholy place?" she tried to verify. "All hidden within an abandoned building. Who'd have guessed?"

He nodded as he reached out to encourage Harden to stop gawping and carrying on walking.

On the other side of the nameplate the space had opened out dramatically to show a settlement of a few hundred people at least. Around them were high bare walls with small windows laced along the top. Harden's eyes couldn't take it in all at once. He saw people, actual normal people, and for a moment he allowed himself to hope.

"This way," Haug ordered him, snapping his fingers in his face.

Harden immediately obeyed. He didn't want to get left behind in this strange place. All around them were hastily assembled huts, like a shanty town, closely huddled together. Obviously privacy was a rare commodity here.

* * *

Trelban walked ahead of her colleagues and spoke to a woman who looked as though she was about to do the dance of the seven veils; sheaved as she was in layers of cloth. They exchanged a few words and head bobs, and then Trelban made her way over to the Doctor as he stood waiting with Donna to hear the consequences of their visit. No doubt a forfeit would have to be made, although it hopefully wouldn't be too dreadful considering they had Harden to worry about.

"Family of Harden, I bring good and bad news. The leader of the High Council is unavailable momentarily; she is sleeping. But they are very interested to see both the Doctor and Donna."

"In what way interested?" the Doctor warily asked.

"Forgive my impoliteness but older people are rare here, since only the fit and young managed to evade the Dreadel," Trelban explained. "It is a long time since we saw people such as you."

"And we're back to being specimens again," Donna huffed at the Doctor in quiet tones. "Shall we lay bets on when the rest of the assumptions will arrive?"

He cheekily smiled back. "What does the winner get?"

"A weekend in sunny Heiligtum, by the looks of it," she retorted.

Changing the subject, he pondered, "Tell me, Trelban, what do you people do around here for fun?"

"Fun?" Trelban acted as though she had never heard the word. "That is too idle a thing."

"But you must do something when you've finished surviving for the day," Donna argued. "It can't be all bed and battling."

"It is for you," Harden giggled by her side, so she swatted him.

Trelban followed the action with interest. "There has been much to grieve over. Perhaps it is time for us to have some fun."

"Now seems as good a time as any," the Doctor agreed. "Life is to be lived while you have it."

"Such wise words, Doctor," Trelban allowed. "I shall go and find out what the High Council wish me to do with you for the time being." With a respectful bow, she strode away, leaving them standing to take in their surroundings.

"Nice day for it," Donna idly commented to Haug and Jolak. "Do you get much passing trade here?"

Confusion flittered across their faces. "If you are referring to visitors," Haug began uncertainly, "then no, we do not. Yours are the first fresh faces we have seen in many days."

"What do you seek out?" Jolak directed at the Doctor when she spotted him darting his eyes about, taking in the details of their environment. "Do you sense danger?"

He reassured her by saying, "Nothing for you to worry about."

"He does that a lot," Donna added. "It's the sniffer dog in him. Just give him a biscuit and he'll be fine." She smiled whimsically back at the Doctor when he glared at her cheek.

Haug turned to Harden in amusement. "Your parents are most unusual."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I'm posting this in order to wish **tkel-paris** a very happy birthday for yesterday!

* * *

**Part 6**

.

Oh dear! They were being mistaken for his parents again. "He is not our son..."

"I'm their nephew," Harden suddenly spluttered out to halt the denial. "And their godson, so that's nearly as good as being theirs."

Two very surprised faces greeted this news, followed by the Doctor laying a possessive hand on his shoulder. "Harden has done us proud, especially recently. We could not have got here without him."

The praise seemed to conflict the boy, and he beamed equally with pride, modesty and shyness. Two young girls who had nonchalantly walked by them stopped to quietly giggle together and then looked briefly at Harden in interest. When he realised he was being watched and turned his head in their direction they quickly scurried off, only daring to look back at him from a distance.

"It looks like the fun has started for you, m'lad," the Doctor fondly joked.

"Should I go after them?" Harden wondered.

"Should you!" Donna puffed. "Yes," she emphasised, drawing out the single syllable.

"But not until we are settled somewhere for the night," the Doctor advised. "It helps to know where you have a bed to return to."

"Oh, that'd be easy," Harden decided. "All I'd have to do is find you two."

A flicker of pain momentarily appeared on the Doctor's face when Donna reached out to touch the boy's arm. "It's best not to rely on that," he whispered.

Harden wanted to know what context he meant this, but the sight of the return of Trelban distracted his thoughts.

"We have permission to give you food and a bed for the night," she announced, "so follow me to your quarters."

They were led to a makeshift dwelling that was barely the size of a garden shed. Inside it was filled by two low beds, like those things people used to sun themselves on decades ago. On each bed was a single brown blanket of some sort. Nothing else was in the small room.

"Where am I going to sleep?" Harden immediately asked.

"One of the beds is yours," Trelban pointed out, trying to be patient with him. "The other is for your p... Whoever they are."

"They're his aunt and uncle," Jolak put in helpfully. "And godparents."

Letting this information sink in, Trelban continued, "Very well. Rest here for a while, and the High Council shall talk to you all later. Farewell for now."

They all said goodbye, expressing gratitude again; but just as the guardian trio turned to leave, Jolak asked Harden, "What exactly _is_ a godparent?"

"Erm... I dunno," he admitted. He'd only heard the term in passing long ago and he had liked the sound of it.

"It means parents that are second in command," the Doctor explained in terms they would understand. "A godparent is responsible for the wellbeing of their godchild."

"So they're the closest to real parents you can get?" Harden sought to clarify.

"The only thing closer is if we adopted you." He grinned at the lad and then quickly corrected his mistake, "I mean, if they adopted you, of course."

Jolak was shouted at to catch up with the others, having been invested in this little exchange.

"You've gone and done it now, Spaceman," Donna whispered into the Doctor's ear as they watched Jolak scurry after her companions.

He decided it was safer to appear as though he misunderstood, in light of their current situation. "You mean sharing another bed with me? I'm sure you can cope," he bluffed. "Although you might not be able to keep your hands off me in the night. And who could blame you?"

She immediately showed him how her hands would touch him, with a well-aimed punch to the upper arm.

* * *

"Funny how this leader woman is still sleeping at this time of day," Donna remarked as she sat tentatively down on the utilitarian cot, giving the surface an experimental touch. It felt as bad as it looked but at least it was better than the dirt floor of the dugout. To be honest, she was thoroughly knackered and longed to catch up on her missed sleep. The pillow on the bed desperately called to her.

And then she noticed Harden bravely hide a wince as he sat himself down onto the other cot. The Doctor was stood at what passed for a doorway when in reality it was flimsy curtain across an opening in a ramshackle dwelling. "Harden? Are you alright?" she asked with concern. "Oh my god, you're still hurt!"

"I'm okay," he insisted. "It will soon go away."

"No it won't," the Doctor ground out, having instantly turned and knelt by Harden's feet, slowly peeling away Harden's shirt to observe his wound.

"Why didn't you say?" Donna chastised as the Doctor moved his fingers tenderly and expertly over a nasty gash across Harden's torso. "We've been babbling on, and you've been in pain."

"Honest, I'm fine," Harden continued to insist. "I've had worse."

"Not round me you ain't," she chided. "Doctor, how bad is it?"

From out of the depths of his trans-dimensional pockets he pulled out what looked like a sewing kit. It was the sort you tend to get in decent Christmas crackers; containing a needle, thread, and a needle threaded with a thread cutter.

"Blimey! Is there anything you don't carry about with you?" Donna wondered, impressed despite herself.

"Yeah, protection," Harden risked joking, "by the sound of it."

It gained him a glare-of-death since Donna didn't think it would be appropriate to hit him when he was already injured.

"Watch it!" she growled instead.

"Oi! He was insulting me, not you," the Doctor argued, around a mouthful of needle and thread as he attempted to gain a starting knot. "And it wasn't very wise, Harden, considering what I am about to do to you."

"What's that?" Harden queried, ignorant as to the Doctor's intentions.

"He's going to embroider his initials into your side," Donna jested.

"I'm going to stitch the wound up so that it will heal better and not be open to infection," the Doctor explained, wiping the area with an antiseptic wipe. When Harden looked relieved, he added, "And then I might embroider my initial as a little keepsake."

"What!"

"Relax. I will only do what is necessary, but it will hurt quite a lot."

Harden looked to Donna for sympathy, so she tried to supply it. "It's got to be done, sweetheart, otherwise you'll be really ill with an infection later on." She then passed him the sonic. "Here, bite down on this if you can."

The resultant howl of pain brought the settlement's medic running to the shed. She blustered in through the closed curtain, reacting very apologetically. "I am so sorry for the delay. I was dealing with an injury over by the food station." She then stopped dead in her tracks, stunned by the scene and the people before her. "Oh! You are elders. I had not expected that. And what are you doing to the young one's body?"

The Doctor snapped off the thread he had been using, having finished his sewing job and given Harden a comforting touch. "Hello. I assume you are the medic. Fortunately I was able to take care of things before his condition became critical. I'm the Doctor, this is Donna, and the patient here is Harden."

Feeling slightly chastised, the medic made an attempt to beam reassuringly at Harden. "Hello Harden. I'm Medic Lison. You are very lucky to have such a knowledgeable parent."

"Godparents," Harden corrected, frowning at the medic. "It is kind of you to have come but my... the Doctor has dealt with it."

"Harden!"

"Alright," he sighed. "And thank you."

Medic Lison gawped at this exchange, taking it all in so that she could relate it all later. "This is most unusual," she noted to herself. "We do not often see people like you."

"So we've been told," the Doctor tightly responded. "If you would be so kind as to bring us some water, Harden can take some medication and Donna needs to rest."

"Rest," Medic Lison repeated with interest. "Are you not well?" she asked Donna.

"Nothing like that," Donna replied, "just very tired."

"And pregnant," Harden mumbled.

"Pregnant!" Medic Lison instantly squealed with delight. "Hopefully you will allow me to examine you, to further my education. Would you also be able to come and talk to some of the gathering about conception? It would be an honour to hear you." When she noted the Doctor's unhappy expression, she tacked on, "After you have rested long enough, of course."

"Why do I get the feeling I'll have to anyway. Thanks Harden," Donna muttered. "Alright, yes, but don't expect a keynote speech with PowerPoint slides and everything."

The Doctor tried not to smirk at the expression of utter confusion on Medic Lison's face. "Until later then, Lison," he dismissed her.

"Oh, right," she spluttered, realising she was being ushered out. "It'll be a good'un," she cheerily said to Donna before disappearing back out through the door curtain.

Harden laid down, gave a pathetic cough and tried out his best puppy eyed look on the Doctor. "I'm sure she won't be long with that water."

"Just give him an antibiotic, Doctor," Donna moaned. "Perhaps then he'll shut up and stop dropping us in it."

With an exasperated sigh, the Doctor agreed. "We can live in hope."

* * *

An hour or so later, Harden was in a deep sleep and Donna was well on her way to being so too. She would never have owned up to it, but she wanted to make sure that Harden was okay before she gave in to her tiredness. To get her to lie still, the Doctor had practically ordered her to recline back on their cot, and had volunteered himself to lie down with her as her pillow.

"Well, it's not as though we have never shared a bed before whilst fully clothed," he had reasoned.

"Yes, but that was when it was just us and things were a bit more needy," she countered, thinking of the aftermath of Messaline. "This feels a lot more public, and they all seem really obsessed with us being parents, real and imaginary."

"I'm sure it will pass. I'm more concerned about the High Council and the missing leader they mentioned. Knowing our luck it will be another robotic dictatorship."

"Don't remind me," she huffed. "Talking of reminding, there are two things I need to ask you about."

"Is this about that conception talk they want you to do?" he pondered. "I can offer to help, if you like."

Ignoring the obvious joke, she shook her head. "No, not that. I wanted to ask about your hand."

"My hand?" He held up his hand, holding it aloft above them both on the narrow bed for their inspection.

"Yes, that's the blighter," she quietly fumed. "Why did you clamp it over my mouth?!"

"Ah!" He hastily pressed an apologetic kiss against her temple. "I just wanted to make sure you stayed safe; the both of you."

Trust him to bring it down to protecting the baby! Not that she could completely complain, since she loved that side of his personality.

Deciding to leave it be for the time being, Donna tackled her second query. "The other thing I wanted to know about is why did you do that funny sniff thing?"

"You noticed?" he asked in amazement. Normally nobody noticed when he detected something.

"Of course I did!" she grouched. "What did you smell?"

The Doctor remained silent for a few seconds, thinking she would consider him daft for his actions. "I thought, just for a moment or two, that I detected another Time Lord."

"Is that even possible? Another Time Lord, I mean," she clarified, wanting him to find another member of his species, for his sake.

"No," he firmly stated. "It must have been a faint whiff of… What name do you want us to refer to our, your unborn as?"

She suppressed a sigh. "I would have thought 'the baby' as being sufficient, surely."

"Well, if you're Earthgirl and I'm Spaceman," he argued, "what does that make him?"

"Apart from being slightly larger than a lime, you mean?" Closing her eyes, she thought for some seconds. "Our little miracle is a Time Baby."

"I like that," he declared, pressing another kiss to her temple. "Our Time Baby."


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

.

The Doctor's eyes dipped low to consider Donna's stomach. Obviously he was hesitating about something.

"What's the matter, Spaceman? Are you having doubts about all this?" she queried.

"No," he instantly answered. "Quite the opposite. Do you mind if I erm…" His voice trailed away as a moment of self-doubt crossed his features.

"What," she encouraged him to explain.

There was a vague bit of pointing towards her lower torso. "If I touch you," he quietly proposed. "Just your stomach," he hurriedly added when she looked ready to strike him in self-defence.

"My stomach?" she tried to confirm, and then rolled her eyes in exasperation, knowing he wouldn't be satisfied until he had done so. "Go on then. But no straying anywhere else."

"As if I would dare!" he countered, and reached out to take hold of the bottom hem of her tunic. "If I may?" he asked permission to cross this boundary between them, and waited for her somewhat reluctant but indulgent nod of consent.

It was very weird for Donna to have the Doctor reveal her stomach; intimately seeking out the area just above the waistband of her jeans. But she trusted him not to take advantage of the situation. Well… she did; until he suddenly pressed his lips to her lower abdomen!

"Oi, watch it, Sunshine!" she bit out before she could stop herself from snapping at his gesture.

"I'm just gaining a closer connection with our Time Baby," he defended himself. "Your honour will stay safely intact; I promise you."

"That's alright then," she huffed in embarrassment, surprised at herself for reacting the way she had. Of course he would want to telepathically connect with the baby; she knew that. It was just that she hadn't expected him to actually do this to her, of all people, or for the way her traitorous body was reacting to his tender touch. For a split second she had believed he had wanted to be so intimate with her body rather than the baby. Silly her! "Fill your boots up and help yourself," she offered in appeasement.

When he took hold of her waistband and pulled it down one centimetre she really had to bite down on her involuntary indignation. He was only communicating with their baby after all. It didn't mean anything more than that; not with him. Of that she was sure. But his lips dancing slowly across her belly and dangerously close to her pubic area caused all sorts of flutterings within her stomach.

"Sorry. Am I tickling you?" he wondered as he briefly lifted his head.

"A little bit, but it's not a problem," she managed to reply. "Was there any message from Time Baby?" she lightly added.

A wide grin appeared that went from ear to ear. "He seems perfectly happy at the moment now that you are resting; and feels very loved."

"So he should do." She then blushed. Was it okay to be so pleased about the baby? "What about you?" Noting his flicker of surprise, she quickly amended her question. "I didn't mean in the loved sense, but in the 'happy and being okay' department." Phew! She had managed to dodge that emotional bullet.

He felt rather relieved that love between them wasn't being discussed. "I'm alright. Are you feeling tired?"

"Very," she confirmed.

He respectfully replaced her tunic and then wrapped his arms around her body. "Go ahead and sleep, love; you need it. I'll still be here when you wake."

Giving him a final smile, she snuggled into his embrace and drifted off to sleep.

Across from them on his bed, Harden faintly stirred and happily went back to sleep, having heard what he considered to be their unconfessed declarations. It would be sufficient for now. All he hoped was that they didn't do anything yucky in front of him. Eugh!

* * *

"Mother of Harden, are you awake yet?" somebody suddenly called Donna, forcing her from her slumbers. It was a florid-faced young man in his early twenties asking her from the doorway of their sleeping quarters.

She looked across to where Harden still slept on, before she consented to answer him, as civilly as she could. "What did I miss? Has someone set your trousers on fire?"

To her total lack of surprise, the Doctor was nowhere to be seen at all. No doubt he was exploring somewhere.

"I do not understand," her visitor admitted after blinking at her for some seconds.

In return, she gave him a cheesy grin. "Thought not. I was considering what was so important that you had to come barging in here."

He had the good grace to look apologetic for a moment. "It is time for you to come and talk to us about conception."

"While I've got the chance to ask," she began as she heaved herself up off the small bed, "why do you need me to do this?"

"There are no longer people such as you to pass on the wisdom," he explained, leading the way out of the temporary accommodation. "Especially someone as blessed as you."

Anger flitted across her face. "What exactly is that supposed to mean, Sunshine?"

He floundered for a few seconds. "I did not mean to cause offence, mother of Harden."

"Donna. My name is Donna," she pointed out; but he didn't seem to be all that interested in the correction.

Instead, all his attention was on the little gathering of young people they had reached, all huddled together outside one particular shack that probably doubled as the main meeting place in the settlement.

"Good, Karth. I see that you have brought the mother of Harden in plenty of time," Medic Lison greeted them, starting with the man by Donna's side. "The father of Harden is already here."

With that, the Doctor stepped out of the larger shack, and grumbled to Lison, "I told you not to wake Donna up yet and let her rest longer!"

"I'm not made of china, Spaceman," Donna reminded him. "Loads of women go through this with no ill effect."

Determined not to back down, he conceded, "Maybe; but you fainted when we first arrived on this planet, you had a gruelling day yesterday and, well, not to put too fine a point on it, you are carrying my child."

"No!" she mocked gasped. "I completely missed that memo and would never have known. For a few moments I wondered if it was the milkman's baby. And don't get me started on not having the dream with the angels!"

"Donna!" he whined, drawing out the second syllable.

"Doctor!" she mimicked him. "If you start trying to wrap me up in cotton wool, so help me god, I shall swing for you."

"But…" He then decided to appeal to Medic Lison for support. "Tell her, Lison, how dangerous it can be for a woman in the early stages of pregnancy."

Unfortunately Medic Lison shook her head in answer. "I'm afraid that I do not know such things. Mother of Harden is the first pregnant woman I have personally come across since I became a medic."

"What, none at all!" Donna gasped out.

"Indeed. This is why we need your expertise." Medic Lison continued. "All such knowledge was lost long ago."

"We will be able to help," the Doctor confidently assured her.

"So please tell us," one eager young face pleaded. "What will we need to do when the time comes to populate the city?"

More eager faces looked up at them.

"Donna needs to be sitting down," the Doctor told them, "before we can start to tell you anything."

"Thanks," she acknowledged when he got two of them to shift up on a long bench to make room for her. "The whole birds and the bees talk, huh. Blimey! Where do I even start?"

"Just think back to what you were told," he suggested. "You know, when your mother informed you what happened when you entered puberty."

She in turn lifted a querying eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to start there?"

"What were you told?" the girl to her left wanted to know.

"Well… my mother started off by saying 'if a husband and wife love each other very much' which isn't exactly ideal, considering," Donna supplied.

"Why is that not an ideal?" the girl asked in confusion.

"Because marriage isn't the main contributing factor," Donna blurted out, "but love certainly helps a great deal. Not as much as fancying though, apparently. Not that I'm dissing being married. Marriage is a nice idea, in theory, if not in practice."

The gaggle of faces before them looked even more puzzled than before. Until finally someone asked the inevitable question: "Are you married to each other?"

"Oh no."

"We aren't a couple."

"If you are not married, how can you fulfil the first requirement?" someone else asked.

"Normally marriage is the first step," the Doctor argued, "but in our case it didn't quite happen."

"It didn't?" Lison pondered.

"Funny how it's worked out because we met at my wedding to someone else entirely," Donna reminisced, wanting to entertain them all with the joke the universe continually played on them both. "I had the dress, he had a ring, and before we knew it, we were biodamped. Which isn't the same as married, by the way."

"Oh no! This will not do," Medic Lison muttered to herself. "You have not fulfilled the basic requirements."

"In more ways than one," the Doctor commented to Donna. "It really can be overcome, I assure you," he aimed towards Lison. "Starting with the egg…"

But Lison anxiously cut him off. "We _must_ do this properly. Please desist until I can talk to a member of the High Council." With that, she scurried off.

"Now we've gone and done it," Donna cautioned the Doctor. "What one do you think we'll get this time? Chucked out or a shotgun wedding?"

"I'm hoping for neither," he optimistically replied. "Harden needs to stay with these people."

"Or he could come with us," she quietly proposed. "What do you think? If a baby doesn't cramp your style then he'd barely make a dent in your reputation."

"I hardly think this is the time or place to discuss Harden's options."

Dejected, Donna tried to appear bright and unaffected. "It's his decision when it comes down to it, and he might not want to hang about with us; should we make the offer."

The Doctor had no time to retort because there was a sudden loud commotion as Medic Lison reappeared. What he did say made no sense to Donna. "It can't be!"

Beside Lison stood a man they hadn't seen before, but judging by his stance he thought himself very important.

"People of Heiligtum and newcomers, as the main representative of the High Council I have an announcement concerning our illustrious leader who gained consciousness mere moments ago," he declared to all and sundry. "Not only has she considered the news brought to her concerning the elders of Harden, but she has decreed that they must marry immediately to preserve the sanctity of conception and any future conceptions. The ceremony will take place in the sacred area, and she shall personally officiate."

All around the Doctor and Donna there were joyous shouts of agreement and many touches of congratulations.

"This gives the whole shag or die concept a completely new meaning," Donna whispered into the Doctor's ear. "Not much of a pre-nup arrangement, is it?"

"If it appeases them, I suppose it can do no harm to go through another wedding ceremony. It can't go as badly as my previous ones," he quietly considered with a sniff. "But something else is troubling me."

"Beyond being the Dreadel's next meal, you mean, if we don't comply?" she questioned.

"The Dreadel don't even seem to be a part of this factor, which is strange," he considered. "But-"

To his dismay they were wrenched apart, in different directions before he could say anything further. They had a wedding to attend, apparently.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** you get your chance to see if you guessed right about someone.

* * *

**Part 8**

.

The Doctor fought the separation with all his might, unable to believe these people could hold such views. "Where are you taking me? Take me back to Donna right now!"

"It is the law that the bride and groom be apart before the ceremony," one of his guardians growled back at him.

"Why?" the Doctor demanded to know. "What good does it do?"

The guard merely shrugged. "That is the ceremony. You shall see her soon enough once you have meditated for an hour."

"An hour! This is ridiculous!" the Doctor complained. "Donna needs me."

Another guard eyed him suspiciously. "You have already blighted her by causing her to be with child. The least you could do is grant her the grace to be a proper bride."

Sighing deeply, the Doctor huffed out, "Very well. But you'd better get me to her as soon as possible." He didn't care that they seemed to think he was some sort of manipulative sex maniac; he just wanted to get back to her and the baby. Goodness knew how upset she could about all this.

* * *

"Get your mauling mitts off me!" Donna yelled out as she was ushered away from the Doctor. "Once I'm married my husband and I will sue the backsides off you all!"

"Mother of Harden… I mean, Mistress Donna; we are trying to restore your reputation," one of her guards explained in friendly tones. "Your future husband has done you a great disservice."

"That's where you're wrong, Sunshine!" Donna contradicted, with a stab of her finger. "The Doctor would never do anything of the sort. He's been nothing but caring; even when he doesn't have to be."

"Be that as it may," her guard patiently expounded, "but you still need to meditate before your wedding ceremony to cleanse the spirits that surround you."

"I'd rather drink a glass of spirits at this moment," Donna mumbled to herself. "Look, I know you mean well but it really isn't necessary."

"It is the law," an exasperated guard sternly proclaimed. "If you do not like our ways you should not have come here."

"Yeah yeah, I get the picture," Donna griped. "Be good, shut up, sit down, get married. All the usual dross. Just because I'm going through with this does not mean I approve!"

"Duly noted," the second guard acknowledged. "The wedding will begin in one hour."

"Aww, you make it sound so romantic," Donna sarcastically commented. "Is there at least the chance of a cup of tea while I wait?"

Several pairs of eyes looked at her in disapproval. Good! That was exactly the effect she was aiming for. That'd teach them to assume she'd go along with their stupid little laws.

* * *

The Doctor and Donna were not the only ones to disturbed by the wedding plans. Harden found himself being manhandled out of the tiny shack and made to walk to a covered courtyard, lit only by the moonlight above them that filtered in through the wrought-iron mesh that acted as a ceiling and buffer against the marauding interests of any passing Dreadel. It made him feel extremely uncomfortable to be standing there despite the safety of the pending dawn. The half-light was always the most dangerous time of all; and the fact their people thought the cleared area in front of a tiny statue of metal was sacred was, to be quite frank, beyond his understanding.

"Why have I been brought here?" he demanded to know from his escort of three settlement dwellers.

One of them was a gangly young man who squinted as though his vision was impaired; which may have been a massive disadvantage since corrective glasses were no longer freely available. "Your parents have committed a terrible sin, and we have brought you here to amend that," he explained.

"You what?" Harden spluttered in disbelief. "Are you saying it was an unforgivable sin to bring me here? Seriously?! Next you'll be telling me I have to be executed or some such nonsense. If that's the case, just let us go back to where we came from. We are innocent!"

From behind him a gentle female voice said, "There is no need to worry, little one. Once your parents atone for their sin you are free to go or stay with us."

Harden whirled round, to face this new, authoritative stranger. He saw a young woman shorter than him, clad in a hooded robe, smiling in his direction; but he refused to be intimidated by her ethereal presence. "Who are you and what's going on?" he asked, aiming to sound as annoyed as Donna could be.

The woman pulled back her hood slightly to reveal a slither of her shining hair; her vivid blue eyes fixed on him, and she smiled indulgently. "I am the leader of Heiligtum; and I cannot wait to meet your parents."

Still puzzled, Harden narrowed his eyes. "Why? What do you want with them? This whole place seems to be obsessed with them being some sort of parents of mine."

The woman laughed; a soft tinkling sound. "They will help us free this world."

"Really?!" Harden stood stunned. "I know that the Doctor is…" He fought to find the phrase that Donna had used to describe him. "… high up in the brainy stakes, but you make him sound like he can perform miracles. What are you really planning?"

"Ah, your phrasing is very familiar," the woman declared. "Come with me and you shall find out."

With a tweak of her finger, she encouraged him into a hut he had not seen before; but he was relieved to see that it was far from any threatening open windows. Something within him expected a Dreadel to show up at any second, and he _hated_ that feeling; because it was normally right.

The woman stepped up onto a dais that was little more than an upturned crate, but it had the desired effect of making her taller than them all.

"Bring them in. I am ready," she announced to the same three escorts, who quickly bowed low and then ducked away.

Surprised and slightly impressed by this, Harden thought there was nothing to lose by asking, "Do they always do that?"

Pleased that he didn't seem fazed at all, the woman conspiratorially agreed, "Oh yes. Always. They just started doing it one day."

"You must have done something brilliant to cause that," he remarked thoughtfully.

"I may have done," she smugly decided.

Before Harden could ask what exactly, the escorts returned; prodding in first Donna and then the Doctor before leaving the. Even without the need to look in their direction he could tell it was them. The snarky tone of the voices was a dead giveaway.

"This is a joke, being forced into marriage by a bunch of teenyboppers! Do you know how archaic a shotgun wedding is in this day and age? Marriage shouldn't be based on a sheer whim or an accident of nature," Donna loudly complained.

"Donna, this can be overcome," the Doctor countered. "After all, this isn't the first time such a thing has happened to us."

The escorts were waved away by the woman, out of the hut; leaving only the four of them alone.

"What's come over you all of a sudden?" Donna questioned the Doctor, ignoring the other two for the time being. She'd expected to see Harden and some officiate. "You've soon changed your tune. Normally you can't wait to deny any attachment to me."

"Well… there are certain extenuating factors here at play that I cannot dismiss," he began to say before focussing his attention away from Donna and totally onto the woman. "And you smell completely differently to these people. Who are you?! Tell me what you are!"

In reply the woman released the cloak from around her head, revealing her shining golden ginger hair, and she widely grinned at him. "Hello, Dad!"

"You what?!" Donna gasped out. "Only Jenny ever said that."

"Oh no! No no no no," the Doctor automatically denied the information that assaulted all his senses. "You can't be her." Hope warred with reason within his head.

Ignoring his outburst, the woman continued, "I see you got my message."

"That was you on the psychic paper?!" he floundered. "But you can't have. This is impossible."

"Not impossible. Just a little bit unlikely. Isn't that what you usually say, Dad?" the woman goaded him. She then told Donna, "I am your Jenny."

"But you look totally different," Donna blurted out, and not knowing what to think or believe. "We saw you die."

"I regenerated. Twice, actually. The last time was a short while ago when I crash landed the colonists' rocket here and had a bit of a run in with the Dreadel."

Left on the side of this little show, Harden had his own questions. "You've got a daughter? A magical daughter! Why didn't you say?" he accused the Doctor and Donna.

"It's not the sort of thing you idly throw into a conversation," Donna defended the Doctor. "We were busy with other stuff."

"Like getting pregnant," he muttered to himself. "But you were searching for this place," Harden loudly argued petulantly. "For _her_," he added, waving a hand towards Jenny. "Why not tell me instead of being all secretive about some message?"

"Because we didn't know who sent it!" the Doctor raged. "She could be using olfactory trickery to trap us all."

"Or she really could be Jenny," Donna suggested as she placed a consoling hand on his arm to calm him down. "You did mention you were expecting her to regenerate at the time. Go on; risk it."

"If she isn't…?" He left the question hanging in the air between them as he continued to wrestle with this news, his eyes wild with anticipation.

"Then we'll cope with it, just like we did last time," she gently reassured him.

That was all the permission he needed, and within seconds the Doctor was hugging Jenny for all he was worth. It had taken only a nanosecond of physically touching her in order to know exactly who and what she was. Their Time Lord connection buzzed into being, calming his troubled soul. "I didn't dare let myself believe," he whispered through his happy tears.

Seeing that Harden was equally affected by this reunion scene, Donna took the opportunity to grab and hug him too. "Come here, you silly sausage," she crooned; embracing him closely, and feeling him return it as he clung on tight.

With an affectionate stroke of his hair, she released her old on him and then good-naturedly asked Jenny, "Don't I get a hug too?"

"Of course," Jenny replied, and threw herself on Donna. "I've missed you!" she cried.

"I've missed you too," Donna sobbed. "Oh, look at me! You've turned me into a blubbering mess. What must you think?" She hastily wiped away her tears, and then gave Jenny another hug for good measure.

"Think?" Jenny eyed her with amusement. "I think it is wonderful you are having Dad's baby. When did you both become like that? You said there were probably laws against it."

The Doctor giggled. "Despite any possible laws, nature decided we should be parents together. It wasn't our decision or actions that caused it."

"Come off it!" Harden protested. "I may be just a kid to you, but even I know that you have to erm… thingy… to have a baby."

"The word is 'mate', Harden; and no, we didn't carry out such an action," the Doctor firmly informed him.

"But you are a couple, aren't you?" Jenny pondered. "After all, you have Harden here as your son."

"Jenny, love, it isn't like that between me and your dad," Donna gently argued. "It never will be."

"Why not?" both Jenny and Harden simultaneously demanded to know.

"The baby was a mere spontaneous event that we can only theorise about," the Doctor supplied. "But Donna and I are best friends who travel together."

"Stop pretending you are reading us some sort of fairy story! I've seen you kiss her," Harden countered, "so you are more than friends."

"Harden, sweetheart; we really aren't more," Donna insisted. "The Doctor is only interested in the baby. Not me. What you saw was the Doctor merely looking after me."

Harden gawped at her in disbelief. "You can't be serious! All this charade is for your baby? This is mad!" he loudly fumed. "I can't deal with this anymore. I'm getting out of here."

"Harden!" Donna screeched after him in horror as he stormed off.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** sorry for my absence and delay in replying to comments but I crashed and burned today/yesterday* [*delete whichever is applicable for your time zone]. Hubby had loads of fun trying to wake me up when he got home from work...

* * *

**Part 9**

.

The Doctor stepped nearer and held Donna close, offering soft touches to calm her down. "He'll be okay once he has a chance to cool down," he gently assured her.

"But Doctor," she stammered out on a sob. "If we don't go after him he might get eaten by something."

"Let him go," Jenny advised the grief-stricken Donna. "My guardians will not let him leave the settlement, so he will be safe." With a tilt of her pretty head she considered the Doctor comforting Donna in an embrace. "He does have a point. How exactly _did_ Donna become pregnant with your child, Dad?"

"I don't know for sure," he reluctantly admitted. "We didn't discover the pregnancy until we landed on this planet, but we've narrowed the time down to either being somehow affected by Messaline or England in 1926."

"Did you… share a bed?" Jenny cautiously asked.

"No we did not, in the sense you mean," Donna indignantly answered. "It just happened to me without any chance to enjoy the method."

"You mean you would have enjoyed it with me?" the Doctor smugly queried.

"Shut it, you!" Donna snapped at him in embarrassment. "It's just a phrase. I wasn't implying anything."

Jenny had been thinking as they bickered, and ignored their outbursts. "But don't you see?" she pondered. "I died on Messaline, thinking that was what I was supposed to do when shot in the heart. The Source encouraged my body to regenerate and come back to life. I'm convinced it did. Staying and travelling with you both was the one thing I truly wanted; and it was my last wish as I died. Isn't it possible that the Source also gave Donna what she truly wanted? A child and to be with you, Dad?"

"Well…," he blurted out as he thought on it.

Donna gulped self-consciously. "It's true I do want to be with your dad for the rest of my life; and I want to be a mother, so my dreams have sort of been granted. I'd have to find a man to fall in love with me and then marry to get the full package."

"Then you agree with me," Jenny gleefully acknowledged. "The Source is the reason you are pregnant."

"It does fit," the Doctor warily granted. "The Source was a terraforming device to create and encourage new life. And if Donna was in a fertile phase in her body, as her dates suggest, then it is not impossible to consider the pregnancy. My being the father is explained by the fact that I was the only male who had touched her. With my hands, holding hands, I mean," he blustered. "Thank goodness I hadn't done anything more than hug Martha. Although she could also be affected…"

"How charming of you to liken the baby to a disease," Donna joked as she too wondered if Martha had become pregnant. "At least we know what our next port of call will be when we get back to the TARDIS."

"What? Oh yes, definitely," he airily confirmed. "But you, Donna," he began to announce, having sprung mentally back into the room from his wandering thoughts, "you are truly brilliant, using the Source in the way you did."

"I didn't exactly do anything," she modestly disagreed. "This pregnancy happened to me. And come to think of it…" She rounded on Jenny. "What is all this twaddle you've set up about needing to be married in order to have a child?"

Jenny gave a petulant shrug. "They've set up their own religion around me, cannibalising the best bits from their own beliefs. All I did was accidentally regenerate in front of a few of them."

"You have responsibilities, as a Time Lord or Gallifreyan," the Doctor reminded her. "And how did you manage to become ginger?"

She gave another shrug. "If I had to change I thought that was a nice colour."

"You chose it?" Donna wondered in surprise. "Obviously you inherited quite a lot from your dad."

"And now I look as though I inherited something from my mum. If you'll have me?" Jenny then looked at Donna expectantly.

"If?! Of course I will." Donna joyously opened her arms, and Jenny rushed into the embrace. "Who'd have thought I'd gain two children within the space of a few days, thanks to you, Doctor," she said in his direction as the hug finished. "With a possible third."

"It will make denying we are a couple much harder in the future," he replied. "And a third?"

"That's if you let us take Harden with us," she cautiously explained. "Do you really want to leave him here to be eaten by the Dreadel?"

"No," he confirmed. "I don't want that to happen to anyone. Which means we have to rescue them all."

"I have a plan," Jenny confidently declared.

"What sort of a plan?" the Doctor questioned, dreading the possible answer.

Jenny beamed up at him, waiting for approval. "We build something that resembles a nuclear device and then you give them the choice to leave or be blown to smithereens."

"Excuse me, but isn't there a teeny flaw in that plan," Donna proposed. "What do you do if they just laugh in his face for threatening them with a cardboard box?"

"It would have flashing lights and everything," Jenny re-joined with ease. "It would look like the real thing. We could even put in an explosive."

The Doctor was stunned. "You want me to build a nuclear bomb. A non-working nuclear bomb. I'm afraid that won't do."

"But you said to give your enemies a choice," Jenny petulantly complained. "And this would do that for the Dreadel."

"No," he firmly declined. "There has to be a better alternative."

Donna's mind went back to a couple of days before, when they had first landed on the planet. "You said that this place was like the Marie Celeste; that everyone had buggered off. In that case, to preserve the time lines, shouldn't we just take all the people somewhere else much safer?"

A proud grin lit up the Doctor's face. Trust his Donna to think of preserving the time lines. "Molto bene, Donna!" he cried and grabbed hold of her head to briefly place a chaste kiss on her lips in a flash of celebratory madness. "Oops! Sorry about that," he mumbled in apology when she inevitably looked shocked at his action. "I got carried away in the moment."

In return, Donna gave a cough in embarrassment. "Daft Martian! Anyway, all we have to do is move the TARDIS here."

"I like this new plan," Jenny agreed. "And once you have completed the marriage ceremony we can set out to get it."

"Whoa! Hold your horses, missy!" Donna protested.

"We don't need to go through with your ceremony," the Doctor added. "It isn't necessary anymore."

"Oh, but you do," Jenny insisted. "It's the law."

"You _are_ the law," Donna countered. "You can make up the rules as you go along if you want."

"Hopefully wise laws; very wise laws," the Doctor continued. "You have other, more temporal, things to consider."

But Jenny shook her head. "We set this up as a brave and highly moral society where all births will be legitimate. As the first, you must set an example."

This was too much for Donna. She sunk down despondently to sit glumly on Jenny's dais. "How much of an example do we have to set?"

"Look for yourselves," Jenny offered, using a held out hand to indicate towards the settlement beyond the curtained door.

The Doctor instantly pushed the curtain aside and peered out to observe a sea of eager faces outside waiting for some sort of ceremony. He sighed deeply. This meant that they couldn't avoid disappointing all these young impressionable people, and admitted to himself that part of him wanted to lay claim upon Donna and their unborn child.

"Very well," he reluctantly conceded. "We shall go through with your marriage ceremony; but I want Harden safely back here first. We shall need him to locate the whereabouts of the TARDIS later. And I insist upon devising my own vows."

"You do?!" Donna incredulously exclaimed. "I'm not going to say 'I obey', if you are expecting that one."

"As if I would," he pleasantly replied. "Not at all."

"Then I shall tell the people of Heiligtum that we are almost ready," Jenny proclaimed.

"Erm… don't forget we need Harden," Donna reminded her. "You said the guards would get him."

"And they will," Jenny promised.

* * *

Harden was brought into the shed a mere ten minutes later, almost carried there by two burly settlers and dumped unceremoniously in front of Donna and the Doctor. Judging by the irate pout on his face, Harden did not approve in the slightest.

"Now don't start!" Donna warned him before he could even open his mouth to say something. She stood with one hand on her hip and the other pointing an irate digit at him. "I know you are angry, and you have every right to be. But I need you to help us take part in this marriage ceremony for the settlement."

"Do I have to?" he asked, with an added whine to the pout already set on his face.

"Yes you do," the Doctor informed him. "At the moment you have a choice; either you be the person who gives Donna away or you can be my best man."

"Why can't I be both?" Harden wondered, warming up considerably to this idea and distracted away from his earlier anger.

"I don't see why you can't be both," the Doctor considered. "What do you think, Donna?"

"It could work," she readily agreed. "With Jenny performing the ceremony, that would make it as completely family as we can get in the circumstances."

"Family?" Harden queried, feeling his heart beat furiously as he desperately hoped that the title included him now.

His delight increased when the Doctor laid a hand upon his slender shoulder. "We will be moving the settlement away from here, so you are coming with us. Other details can be sorted out later."

With a repressed sniff, Harden forced himself to smile. "Just tell me what I have to do."

"I know you don't believe in all this," Jenny had requested when they finalised their arrangements, "but please make this wedding convincing for the good of the settlement. They need this to be truthful so that it sets a standard."

The Doctor was startled that she needed to ask it of them. "We can do that, can't we, Donna?"

"Oh yes." She smiled confidently at Jenny. "Especially now that we've got Harden back to help us."

Harden to the side of her beamed with pride. Never in his dreams did he think he would see a wedding again, particularly one he would play a major part in. This was like some fantasy from his former life.

"You really will be married?" he asked the Doctor.

"Under Hureenaxian law, yes," the Doctor confirmed. "It depends whether other planets recognise that or not, as to its universal legality."

"What about the planet you and Donna come from? Will you be married there?" Harden continued to press.

"Ah," the Doctor hesitated. "Not on my home planet. As for Donna's…" He gazed quizzically at her for a second or two. "I suppose we could get away with it."

"Not if I try to add it to my passport or driving licence details," Donna pondered, "but yes, I suppose we could."

Reassured by their words, even though he didn't understand all of what they had said, Harden adjusted his clothing to make sure it sat neatly on his body and readied himself to undertake his task.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** here comes the wedding...

* * *

**Part 10**

.

All of the members of the Heiligtum settlement were crowded around the sacred area that Harden had previously met Jenny in. The sun was shining down strongly now, so he felt quite safe from the exposure; but the size of the crowd made him nervous. It felt like decades since he had last seen so many people in one place, even though the numbers were still relatively small. There was not the usual ornamentation for a wedding, but the general atmosphere of the crowd was of excited anticipation and a sense of gravitas for the occasion.

To comply with her customs, it was decided that the Doctor would wait by Jenny, in front of the tiny statue that stood in the sacred courtyard. Its sacredness came from the fact that this was where Jenny had previously died and been seen to regenerate. Many rumours had instantly been made up about it containing life and good luck brought by a blessed god. Harden was to escort Donna through the throng and to the Doctor's side, passing her ceremoniously over from her old life to the new. Yes, they had tried to build in as much symbolism as they could. He even got his own speech, much to his delight.

The crowd hushed as Donna and Harden appeared on its periphery. Then eager eyes followed their steady progress towards their leader standing on her portable dais by the statue and in front of the High Council members.

"She brings light, love and wisdom," they chanted at the appropriate time.

"Your turn," Donna whispered, prodding him in the side as encouragement.

"I, Harden, bring Donna, my maternal godparent, to become one in life with my paternal godparent, the Doctor. May you remain as blessed as you both are today." He then took Donna's right hand and placed it within the Doctor's.

"We thank Harden for bringing us his godparents to join together in life so that we may witness their blessing," Jenny announced, loud and carefully. "What say you, Donna Noble?"

"I, Donna Noble," she began, straining to make her voice audible for all, "am here to take Doctor John Smith as my marriage partner. I promise to respect, acknowledge and care for you for the rest of my days." Her voice then softened when she focused solely on him. "You are my friend, my best friend, and I cannot imagine living without you. You have given my life a special meaning, and I'm sure our child will benefit from your love. I freely pledge myself to you."

Moved by her words, the Doctor tenderly reached up to caress her cheek.

"I, the Doctor, also known as Doctor John Smith, take Donna Noble as my marriage partner. I promise to respect, protect and travel with you for the rest of your days." He drew in a breath. "You are my best friend, my conscience, my saviour, my anchor in life and the mother of my child. You have given me so much to be joyful about. I could not be the man I am without you. I will always need you, and our child shall know such love. I freely pledge myself to you."

Donna mouthed a 'thank you' at him.

"You may exchange symbols of your pledge," Jenny encouraged them.

So Harden held out his hand to display the two biodampers he had been given to hold. The Doctor and Donna took one each and placed it on the other's ring finger before holding hands again; clasping each other firmly.

"Rings have been exchanged, so I can now declare you both married," Jenny grandly stated, and the crowd clapped and cheered.

"You've gone and done it now," Donna mischievously whispered. "There's no going back on it this time, Spaceman."

"Good!" he retorted. "That also holds for you, Earthgirl."

They shared a pleased accomplished smile. It soon slipped off their faces when Jenny spoke to them.

"All you have to do now is spend your wedding night together in the sacred hut, and then we can set out for the TARDIS tomorrow."

"We can set out for the TARDIS straight away," the Doctor assured her.

"Oh no, that would never do," she replied. "Even if you seem to have had one already, every wedding requires a wedding night."

"Is that the law?" Donna wondered.

"It is now," Jenny answered, and inwardly chuckled with satisfaction. "Harden can spend the night in my quarters, while I go on duty; so you will have nothing to disturb your first night together as a married couple."

"I can hardly wait," Donna sarcastically declared.

* * *

Things had never been so awkward between them before as the Doctor and Donna were left alone in the 'sacred hut'. In particular, Donna was intensely aware how much of a sham their current situation was.

'Whoop-de-doo,' she thought as she eyed yet another simplistic single bed. 'Here goes another loveless marriage of convenience.' It really was doing her self-esteem no good. Sighing, she realised how much she missed and had depended upon Harden to keep her entertained.

In fact, she had spent most of her wedding night so far in Harden's company. The Doctor had been off chatting to various members of the High Council and Jenny; getting himself reacquainted with her adventures, or they had gone off together to investigate some gadget Jenny had been developing. Something about extracting pure water from the air, if Donna remembered right, or it could have been a machine to convert brick rubble into usable soil. All she knew for definite was that it would enable the remaining settlers to grow food and survive more easily on a day to day basis. It made her very proud that she was now closely associated with such a brilliant person; but it didn't make her feel any less lonely.

That was when Harden had rescued her. He found Donna sitting all on her own at the wedding reception, after he had indulged himself in a celebratory dance or two with the girls who had eyed him so positively the day before. He'd been buzzing with joy when he'd spotted Donna watching other people having a good time dancing together to a catchy tune. The music swelled all around them, played by some very talented musicians.

"All on your own?" he had asked in concern. "Come on, you have to dance at your own wedding."

With that, he had pulled her up onto her feet and encouraged her to dance along with him. At first denying the compulsion, Donna soon let him lead her to move more enthusiastically; and in no time at all she was giggling alongside him as he did his best to entertain her amongst several other people.

When the Doctor failed to appear by Donna's side, Harden continued to dance with her until she begged him to give her a breather.

"Stop, stop! I can't keep up with you," she breathily pleaded.

Laughing with her, Harden cheekily said, "You're not that pregnant yet! Anyone would think you were too old."

"You little s-" Donna swatted at his arm, delighted to share a joke with him. "It's a good job I like you, Bunker Boy."

Was this what it was like to have an almost grownup son? She could hardly wait.

"Me too," he enthused, giving her another hug. He'd been giving her lots of hugs as they'd danced together. But he was worried about and for her, thanks to the continuing absence of the Doctor. "I know you kept saying that you and the Doctor aren't really a couple, and I'm sorry I didn't believe you," he admitted. "If you ever need me, I'll step in straight away, no problem. All you have to do is ask."

His sincerity overwhelmed her, and Donna found herself brushing away unbidden tears. "I'll remember that. Thank you. Hopefully it won't be necessary, as I'm already keeping you from your little fan club."

Harden turned his head to look. "Who, them?" he queried, nodding his head towards two particular girls stood watching them. "I'm only just starting to live a normal life. If I go with you then, who knows? There'll be other opportunities but there's only one you."

"You really like making me blub all over you, don't you?" Donna mock griped, and threw her arms around his shoulders in gratitude. "Whoever ends up with you as their husband will be the luckiest person alive."

"You've already made me feel lucky," he sincerely stated, and laughed when she frantically wiped at her face again. "You're not supposed to cry on your wedding day."

"Put it this way; my weddings tend to be heavy on the disappointing side," she explained. "But I'll be fine."

Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Harden had asked, "Are you sure?"

"I've got you, ain't I?" Donna had then smiled reassuringly at him. "Sorted."

* * *

The Doctor had snorted as he paced up down in the small hut, eyeing Donna cautiously as he wondered how best they could pretend to spend their wedding night.

"Just sit down, will you!" Donna eventually spat at him in exasperation. "You look like one of those caged bears in London Zoo! I don't know whether you're going to strike at any minute or sink into a pit of depression."

"That's not much of a choice," he noted.

"Yeah well, you get what you're given around here," she stated, averting her gaze. "Never mind. You can sneak out back to Jenny once no one will notice."

"Why would I want to do that?" he queried.

"Well, you sure as hell don't want to spend any time with me," she retorted. "Marriage obviously doesn't agree with you."

With a nod of his head, he conceded, "That's probably true."

"And don't we know it," she muttered; and turned to lie down on the bed, lying so that her back was to him. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Donna? Have I upset you in some way?" he wondered, moving nearer to sit on the bed behind her.

"Oh no, not at all," she sarcastically replied. "This is a laugh a minute."

"But I don't understand," he admitted.

Lifting her head to peer at him over her shoulder, she sighed, "Of course you don't. Why would you? It's not as if all this means anything."

His puzzled frown deepened. "Are you trying to say that this settlement isn't real? I assure you it does and that I have examined their technology and the developments they are making."

The dope! "I'm sure you have. It would explain why you spent so much time talking with Jenny and her Scooby gang."

"They make up the High Council here, and Jenny is their leader. She has been a strong influence on them and has devised many ideas." He then peered over her shoulder as she lay back down, trying to assess her expression. "Are you jealous of Jenny?" he wondered with some incredulity.

Tensing up, a snort of scorn escaped from her lips. "As if! No, nothing like that. I stupidly thought we were supposed to make the whole ceremony realistic."

"And we did, I thought." He pouted petulantly. "What part wasn't right?"

"The celebration afterwards, but as I said," she insisted, waving a hand vaguely about, "it doesn't matter because it isn't real."

"There was music; singing, dancing, and everyone had a good time. How is that not real?" he pressed.

Now having been forced to be properly angry with him, she burst out with, "Because the groom wasn't there! If it hadn't been for Harden I would have spent the whole evening sitting there like a forgotten garden gnome." She then gave her excuse of a pillow a thump to dislodge some imagined lump in it. "Alright?! Now you know! As I said, you are free to do a runner any time you like. _**I**_ am going to sleep because I have a long day ahead of me."

"No you don't, Donna Smith Noble," he countered. "You won't be coming with me; you'll be staying here. I might ask Jenny to collect the TARDIS with me instead."

He was not prepared for her sudden outburst.


	11. Chapter 11

**Part 11**

.

"You what?!" Anger blazed through her body as she forced herself to sit up, and lashed out in his direction. Fortunately for him he dodged the blow in time for it to land on his shoulder instead of his face. "I am not staying here, so you can get that idea out of your head!"

Not wanting another thump, he took hold of her right hand. "But Donna, it will be safer for you if you stay here," he reasoned.

"It is dangerous _EVERY_ time I step outside the TARDIS. It's called being your companion, Sunshine!" she countered. "Since when did I stop being that?"

"When you became my wife and the mother of my child!" he snapped back, holding onto her firmly. "You are not going out there."

"You expect me to sit here while you go out and face being eaten by some demented Muppet?! Then you might as well take me straight back home as soon as you get the chance, if that's the case. Right away from you and any possible danger, like getting sunburn or a blister on my foot. Because apparently being pregnant makes you hyper-stupid!" she raged at him, and tried to tug her hand out of his gasp.

His grip tightened as his face creased up in concern. "Don't do this to me," he quietly begged, using her hand to draw her even nearer. "I need to know you are both okay."

"If tonight is anything to go by, it's out of sight, out of mind with you," she grumbled. "You hear these tales of how blokes change as soon as they've said the words 'I do' but you never think it's going to happen to you. That's twice now; thank you very much. We might as well just change our names to George and Mildred and make it official."

"Who?" he questioned, wondering if she meant what he thought she did: two iconic British television characters from decades ago who suffered an affectionless marriage.

"Never mind," she huffed, "it was just some comedy show I saw when I was a kid. It's my fault; I should have expected this."

With some reluctance, he released his hold on her wrist. "Donna, what exactly is 'this'?" he tried to clarify.

"Another marriage of convenience," she supplied, moving her wrist well away from him and giving it a faint rub. "What else would it be? Now if you'll excuse me, I have to sleep. The baby needs me to rest, and to be honest I am completely knackered." There was a pause. "Well, not literally knackered, but you know what I mean." She then laid down on the bed, rolling away from him again. "And for your information, I'm going with you to the TARDIS. Don't even think of dumping me here," she added in tones that brooked no argument.

"Yes, dear," he muttered under his breath.

Sighing with both exasperation and admiration, the Doctor sat there watching her go to sleep. Guilt made him internally pledge that he would try to pay her extra attention, make her feel special in any way he could. Theirs may be a loveless marriage, but it didn't have to be cold and unfriendly.

Reaching out, he risked touching her arm, rubbing her skin in a soothing motion. "Donna? I'm sorry for tonight, for not staying by your side. I'm a stupid old man who gets distracted by new and shiny machinery. And you should have seen it! Jenny has them extracting almost pure water, and they are well on the way to creating a growing medium for vegetables. I've promised to obtain some seeds for them to experiment with. There will be no need for them to go without. All they need is a little more guidance since Jenny is better at military applications, as you'd expect."

There was no sign of life beyond Donna steadily breathing in and out, so he laid down behind her, gazing at her back whilst deep in thought. "I didn't mean to ruin another wedding of yours; I normally save that for myself. Sorry, love." He moved in to spoon into her body, revelling in her warm body heat and resting his chin lightly on her shoulder. "I wish… That's a stupid sentiment for a Time Lord, I know, but I really do wish that you'd let me protect you; both you and Time Baby. The thought of any harm coming to you drives me crazy with worry. We make a great team, you and me, no matter what we do; so being parents together should be easy. Does it matter that we have to face marriage at the same time? I know we'll be happy," he continued, wrapping an arm loosely around her waist from behind. "'None of that nonsense,' you once said to me. I'm so sorry I've broken that condition, but I'm not sorry we are having a baby. In fact it's rather wonderful." At this point he lightly stroked his hand over her stomach before resting it again on a safe place. "Tomorrow we will go out for the TARDIS carefully together. I'm determined nothing will harm you."

To his surprise, Donna's hand came up and rested on his arm. "Doctor, shut up. I'm trying to sleep here," she mumbled drowsily.

Chuckling to himself, he couldn't resist pressing a brief kiss to her cheek before nuzzling down into their embrace. Sleep came fairly quickly; and he made sure that he stayed there all night.

* * *

When Donna woke the next morning she was still locked within the Doctor's arms. For a split second she thought she was dreaming because he wasn't exactly known for sticking around after events. Then she heard a voice that was far too cheery for its own good.

"Morning!" Jenny trilled brightly from the sacred hut doorway; victory in her every movement as she swept in and surveyed the Doctor and Donna wrapped up tightly in bed together. "I see you are suitably refreshed, Dad. Are you ready for your trek?"

It was all Donna could do to stop herself from very loudly telling Jenny where she could shove her trek. I dunno, you finally get the chance to get some decent sleep and someone, okay... your stepdaughter, comes along at some unearthly hour and decides to wake everybody up.

Undeterred by the groans from the bed, Jenny continued to encourage them to get up and out into the day. "The sun will be up properly pretty soon so we'd better get going if we are to make the most of the available light. I've packed rations so that we can set off immediately."

The Doctor winced as he turned over and peered at Jenny as she bounced further into the room, knowing she would disapprove of his change of heart. "Jenny, if you could give us a minute before we leave," he quietly suggested. "Donna will need to wake up properly first."

"Why would she need…? Oh!" Jenny gasped out, as a possibility occurred to her mind. "Are you both naked under that blanket?"

Donna let out another groan of exasperation. The irony was killing her!

"Don't move!" Jenny blurted out, holding up her hands to avoid seeing what she thought she'd possibly see. "I'll be waiting outside."

Two seconds later they were on their own again, and an awkward silence hung over them.

"I had better get up," the Doctor stated, and sat up to swing away from Donna's body.

It was only then that she realised he had been hugging her all night, with his chin on her shoulder and his hands resting low on her stomach. Possessive or protective? All she knew for certain was that the bed felt colder and lonelier all of a sudden.

"Not without me you're not," she returned.

"Donna," he sighed from the edge of the bed, "don't you think it would be wiser if you stay here and rest some more."

"No, I'm still coming with you," she maintained, donning her shoes as quickly as she could. "It's as I keep saying, I may be pregnant but I'm not an invalid."

"So you do," he agreed, trying to keep his pride out of his voice. "But I insist that you rest frequently."

"You can insist all you like," she fired at him as she walked passed him and out the door.

She was greeted by the welcome sight of Jenny standing there with Harden, who grinned triumphantly back at them.

"I told you she would come too," he crowed at Jenny, having obviously made a bet of some sort.

"It's a good job I believed you and brought extra rations," she retorted, and turned on her heel to lead them out.

* * *

Being still peeved with the Doctor kept Donna defiantly going for several hours, but by midday her body and resolve were seriously flagging. Harden jumped up onto a higher pile of rubble to assess the landscape and then looked back at Donna with concern. She was pretending to not bend slightly over and gasp for breath.

"We should rest for a while. What do you think, Donna?" he called out to her.

"I could do with a breather," she reluctantly admitted. 'If my husband can be bothered to wait for me,' she wanted to add but resisted. Why should Harden and Jenny be dragged into their argument? "But just a few minutes," she added when the Doctor and Jenny stopped their meerkat impersonation on a different pile.

"We need to reach the TARDIS or somewhere safe by nightfall," Jenny urged them on.

"Jenny," the Doctor cautioned, "we can do that if Donna gets to rest."

"Very well," Jenny acknowledged, obviously wanting to travel further. "But we cannot linger for long."

"I can wait," Donna insisted; but Jenny was already handing out their lunch rations.

The Doctor took both his and Donna's, and then indicated with his eyebrows for her to sit down. To her surprise, Jenny and Harden moved away to give them some privacy. Oh dear! This did not bode well, she thought.

"Out with it, Time Boy," she muttered as she sat herself down as gracefully as possible. "Am I about to get my marching orders, in more ways than one?"

"No," he quietly answered, handing her a drink and making sure she took a sip before he even considered his own. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"And that doesn't sound ominous in the slightest because…?" she almost sing-songed. "Even women who aren't pregnant can get tired, you know."

"It is a major symptom of pregnancy," he pointed out.

"So is weird food cravings, morning sickness and piles," she replied. "I don't have any of those. I'm sure we can let a little bit of tiredness be ignored between ourselves. Give me a minute or two and I'll be good to go."

He reached across to tenderly caress her cheek for a moment and then play with a lock of her hair. "Take as long as you need."

"I'm not sure everyone thinks that way," she said, looking to where Jenny sat regarding them. "She didn't lose all of those military instincts, I see."

He briefly glanced at Jenny then returned to gaze at Donna. "She has a lot to learn about ordinary life," he commented. "Talking of which…" He gave the back of his neck a hesitant rub. "…she is convinced we consummated our marriage."

Donna huffed a laugh. "I gathered that from her dramatic entrance and exit this morning. You must be well miffed."

"That isn't the word I'd use."

"Still means the same thing, no doubt," she reasoned, "whatever Martian language you use." She then slapped her thighs and made to stand up.

"I'm not from Mars, as you well know," he chided as he halted her progress to stand up by taking hold of her upper arms. "And I'm trying to understand why you are still so angry with me. Please explain."

"You dumbo!" she sneered. "You only care about my anger being directed at you; you don't care when your actions upset me and you aren't sorry for spoiling the only wedding I'm ever likely to have."

"I am so sorry," he replied sincerely. "How can I make it up to you?"

She shrugged. "I don't think you can," she answered honestly. "Unless you can magic me up a husband who wanted to stay with me during the wedding celebration, a husband who danced with me all evening and didn't want to abandon me at the drop of a hat. But you didn't, and you can't. You may be legally my husband on this planet but I don't feel like your wife."

"Donna…"

"And I know it's stupid of me to expect that," she hastily interrupted him. "So I'm sorry for being angry about it. I wanted, just for a moment, to pretend I had a bit of normality. You know, the sort of thing other people get. Really stupid of me. Especially considering, if your Rose ever turned up out of the blue, you'd divorce me so fast the ink on the decree nisi would catch fire!"

"Donna," he tried again, and failed.

"Don't!" she warned, jabbing a finger into his chest. "Don't try and fob me off with a load of baloney. I heard the stories from Martha about you and your precious Rose. Just let me work my way through this bout and then we can get back to where we were before in our friendship."

"And the baby?" he questioned, feeling irritated now.

Her expression softened. "He'll be our benefit in our 'friends with benefits' arrangement, I suppose."

"You're doing an awful lot of supposing," he remarked under his breath.


	12. Chapter 12

**Part 12**

.

The sun beat down on them as they inadvertently kicked up dust that threatened to choke and hinder their journey. It really was hot out in the uncovered cityscape. It was the Doctor who led them out in front, following the call of the TARDIS in his mind like some homing pigeon. Jenny followed closely behind, eager to view his skills for herself. Right behind them, Donna laboured on, occasionally helped by Harden who kept constant vigil.

The wind picked up suddenly, causing a breeze that failed to cool them adequately as the surrounding rubble reflected back latent heat despite the efforts of several pioneering blades of fauna that bravely tried to repossess the landscape. And then just as suddenly, the breeze died; leaving the sun to do its worse.

Hardly a sound broke the stifling air beyond their feet turning over bricks that then clucked together. Not even the buzzing of a friendly insect, or an irritating one, filled the void. All wildlife had seemingly taken an out of town holiday, because without the insects, birds had disappeared too. Looking up into the clear sky, Donna found that she missed the constant hubbub of aircraft flying overhead; and she never thought she'd miss Heathrow Airport so much in her life! It felt bizarre and, quite frankly, eerie. Like the scenery was one of those zombie apocalypse film sets. All they needed was a healthy dose of ketchup all over them and the look would be complete.

"Alec," she abruptly said to make conversation. "What do you think of the name Alec?" She was getting fed up with her own wheezing and grunting, to be honest, and longed for other voices to fill the void.

"Erm... It's fine," the Doctor replied, his countenance quizzical. "Is that what you are seriously proposing for Time Baby?"

"I suppose I am," she admitted, giving him a defensive shrug. "Unless it's a girl, of course. But I've always fancied Ella."

"Have I met her?" he queried after searching his memory for some seconds.

"As a name, you prawn!" she chastised him as she moved closer to his side.

She had been avoiding walking so close to him because he had a tendency to grab hold of her hand and not let go; and it was this action that seemed to irritate young Jenny. So Donna had veered towards Harden and welcomed his helpful touch instead. Well, you never know; you hear such heart-breaking tales of teenage girls taking umbrage against their stepmothers. And vice versa, she conceded.

The Doctor tried to whimsically smile back but then scowled. "I'm not so sure about the name Ella... But if you like it, I'm prepared to reconsider," he hastily semi-agreed when he saw her crestfallen expression. "The whole thing is a moot point anyway because he's a boy," he added with a decisive sniff.

"And if the brain sex doesn't match the body sex we have to have an alternative," she reasoned.

Overhearing a snippet, Harden crunched closer over some brick dust to tease, "Do we have to listen to all your sex talk? I'm much too young to be exposed to your perversions."

Inevitably, Donna swatted his arm. "It doesn't seem to stop your cheek!" she retorted, just about managing to hold in a giggle.

"Are you talking about sex?" Jenny yelled over with keen interest. "I need to keep mental notes about this. Please continue." Taking a decisive step over some concrete, she came within easy hearing distance of them.

No, this isn't embarrassing at all, Donna thought; and was glad when the Doctor suggested, "Perhaps some things are best said in more private moments."

"You can't get any more private than this," Jenny argued, surveying their surroundings and seeing nothing of interest. "There's only the four of us."

"Two is _extremely_ private," Harden deliberately murmured, but Jenny caught his words easily.

"I promise I'll answer your sex questions, Jenny," Donna vowed, "but not here, out in this heat. I'm boiling!"

"Is that possible with your core temperature?" Jenny wondered. "I didn't think it was that low." She didn't understand why Harden chuckled to the side of her. What was the joke?

"Oh, it's possible," Donna insisted. "In fact, I refuse to cook like this any longer!"

With that, she grabbed hold of the bottom hem of her tunic; thrust it up over her head and off her body, revealing the flimsy spaghetti-strapped camisole that covered her torso underneath. Harden thought he was surprised by her doing this, since you don't expect older women to suddenly expose parts of their body, especially when they have ample assets; but then he noticed the Doctor's reaction and almost wet himself holding in his mirth.

"Phew! That's better," Donna purred with relief, not noticing the males' aghast faces. "I needed that." She then busied herself tying the tunic around her waist. "What? What's the matter with you?" she asked the Doctor when he continued to stare at her. "Just noticed another common symptom of pregnancy, have you?" Glancing down, she examined her chest. "Yes, I thought they looked a bit bigger too. Never mind. It's not as though they weren't already big enough as it was."

An eager Jenny requested, "Can I touch them?"

"No you can't!" Donna involuntarily bit out, and then forced herself to calm. "Sorry Jenny, but that's not the sort of thing you ask most of the time."

"And the rest of the time…?" Harden jokingly asked.

"Shouldn't you be ogling someone young and beautiful?" Donna advised him and he jumped away from a possible slap. Feeling embarrassed, she started to walk on as though nothing had happened.

Jenny shot her father a confused look when he near whispered, "But you _are_ young and beautiful."

Why hadn't he said it louder? Surely he could pay Donna such a compliment now that they were married. Their relationship puzzled her a great deal, and she quietly resolved to question Harden about his views on the subject later when they rested for the night.

* * *

Later in the day, it would start to get dark within the next hour, and Harden was beginning to get agitated. "Doctor? How far do you think it is until we reach your vessel?" he wondered, dampening down on his feelings.

The Doctor stood still for a second and calculated the time distance. "No more than half an hour, I'd say. Could be as little as ten minutes. She is very near now."

"Good," Harden faintly replied, casting his gaze about to detect the source of his misgivings.

By his side, Jenny immediately followed his lead. "What do you sense, Harden?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "It just doesn't feel right."

She bent low, scooping up a handful of soil and let it sift through her fingers as she tested its texture. "There doesn't seem to be much to worry about here."

Undeterred, he continued to scan the horizon. "Hopefully I'm wrong."

From where she hung onto the Doctor's arm for support, Donna decided to announce, "I need to pee."

"What, again?!" Harden chided.

"I'm pregnant!" Donna defended herself. "It happens, so get over it."

"Just go behind that low brick wall," the Doctor suggested in friendly tones. "We'll keep watch."

"That had better not be in the way you've made that sound," she joshed.

He smiled back. "Your dignity and safety will remain intact."

"Talk amongst yourselves," she suggested as she went to squat out of sight. "I'll still be able to hear you but hopefully you won't hear me."

Harden hunched down onto his knees and considered what he could ask Jenny to fill the time. Giving the sky a suspicious glance, he wondered, "Was the sky on your world like this?"

"I don't know," she confessed. "I spent most of my time there underground."

"That must have been…," he started to say as he looked back to see if Donna had finished. "MOVE!" he bellowed.

Donna let out a shriek as a large, ominously dark body thumped down beside her. A puff of breath was forced into her face whilst a huge claw narrowly missed spearing her leg.

Mere inches away from her head was a Dreadel, and it meant business.

How had he not detected its appearance, the Doctor chastised himself as horror filled his very being. "Donna!" he cried, and plunged a hand into his jacket to search for his sonic screwdriver. The setting shouldn't have altered from when he had distracted one from attacking Harden.

Jenny's reaction had been to dip low and gather up all nearby rocks to throw at the beast. She may not have any other effective weapon but she was a pretty good shot with a small missile. Anything had to be attempted in order to get the hungry creature away from Donna.

Its claw swung out in the direction of both the Doctor and Jenny, catching him mid-body and her in the head. He fell painfully sideways and she instantly went out like a light, crumpling to the ground.

"Doctor!" Donna yelled in vain, horrified to see them felled.

"Run, Donna!" Harden screamed, but it was too late.

She let out a guttural sound as the Dreadel's other claw clamped itself around her waist; and she beseeched Harden with her eyes to do something, anything, to rescue her. That look would haunt him for an awfully long time.

Futilely, Donna reached out her arms towards him; he saw the Dreadel hop, skip and then jump into the air before it flew away and out of sight high above them. Trembling, he hardly noticed the Doctor grip his shoulders firmly until he shouted in his face.

"Tell me! Where would it have taken her?!" the Doctor demanded, getting Harden to refocus his fear.

"B-b-back," he stammered out, "back to their nest in one of their spaceships. It's time for them to eat."

The Doctor dropped him and ran. He ran as though the devil himself was after him, leaving just the two of them behind to face the aftermath.

"She's dead! She's dead! She's dead!" Harden cried out, his wails gradually increasing in volume and pain.

WHAM!

The blow came out of the blue. Jenny had slapped him hard across the face, stunning him out of his fug.

"Snap out of it! We need you," she sternly informed him. "You're the only one that knows where they might have taken Mum, so get your act together."

He distractedly rubbed his cheek and nodded fervently. "I think I know," he absently stated.

In answer, she kindly gave his arm an encouraging squeeze. "Good lad."

There was a swirling of wind, then a weird grating, breathing sound around them, and then a blue box slowly materialised before their very eyes.

"What the hell is that?!" Harden gasped. Was this some sort of magic?! Or was he drugged? He pinched himself to check whether this was a dream.

A door opened in the box, and the Doctor stepped. "Ah, good; I got the right place and am not too late," he stated, and then beckoned them in. "Hurry up! It's about time the TARDIS practised a little flying again. We have an important rescue to carry out."

Jenny readily ran forward as the Doctor turned and re-entered the box. "I knew you wouldn't abandon us!" she trilled as she sprinted in.

Following Jenny's lead, a clearly flummoxed Harden stepped into the box; and gained another shock in his short life when he saw the inside. "What is this place?" His eyes couldn't take it all in; but fortunately his near-phobic fear had been replaced by awe.

By the looks of things, Jenny was equally impressed, and was going around touching and familiarising herself with everything in sight. "Oh wow, Dad," was the only thing she'd been able to say.

The Doctor stood at some sort of control panel system, having raced up a ramp to get there; and began pressing buttons, pulling levers and prodding a screen. "This is the TARDIS, boys and girls. She's bigger in the inside, and she's my spaceship. Harden, I shall need you over here." With a dramatic flourish, he jabbed a blue button and pronounced, "Let's go get my wife!"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** I'm so sorry about the couple of swear words, but they seemed appropriate in this situation.

* * *

**Part 13**

.

Donna came around from her sleep-like state with a moan. Her side ached dreadfully, her head hurt and her mouth felt like sandpaper. Where was she? Everything was painful. Forcing open her eyes, she almost wanted to close them again and pretend she hadn't woken up; but she was made of sterner stuff.

She was sat hunched up in a corner like a thrown away rag doll. A hand cuff of some sort leather was wrapped around her wrist, tethering her to the wall behind. There was possibly two, if not three, foot of leeway, but the length of the lead allowed no more than that. Great!

All around her were shackles to hold other items of food in place. No doubt when the Dreadel had first come to this planet they had needed as many of them as they could. Over farming, or over culling, depending upon your view of it all, was the reason for her being the only current occupant. My, didn't that make her feel special. Yeah, about as special as a chocolate teapot. That was one of the ways her usefulness had been described in the past to her face. Goodness only knew what they said behind her back!

The lighting where she was sat was appallingly bad. Someone really needed to install a skylight in the roof; or a decent light bulb. It was amazing what effects you could achieve with a little bit of thought.

There was no sign of the Dreadel. None at all. Why hadn't they eaten her already? Did they have to get the barbecue ready or something? Probably popped out for a bottle of special recipe sauce, she thought to herself in amusement. Well… if you can't joke when you are facing certain death, when can you? She'd learnt that from the Doctor. It caused no end of irritation to his enemies. If you can't leave them laughing when you go, be an enormous thorn in their side. It's another way of being remembered.

Thinking of him, she wondered how she'd be remembered when he met up with his next companion. No doubt he'd pick someone young and nubile next time to make up for the mistake of choosing her. Would she be classed as 'a complication' like Martha had been? Or would she be his near miss with domesticity? Whichever it would be, she was certain it'd be a cautionary tale and her name wouldn't be used in the same hushed tones that Rose's had been. Snorting, she thought: 'as if!'

But he had been awfully glad about his impending fatherhood, even though it had been forced upon him. He could be extremely sweet at times. Okay, most of the time, if she was honest. So what if he messed up on the odd occasion? Nobody was perfect; and he _was_ an alien. Every time she had stumbled he had been there to offer help, a kind look or a friendly word. Blinking back sudden tears, she chastised herself for being a wuss about him. At least she was thankful that she hadn't let on that she loved him. Yes, that would have been too shaming. It was bad enough to be in an arranged shotgun marriage with someone without the added tragedy of it being known as a completely one-sided relationship. No, she'd used every single opportunity to show her anger with his behaviour. If he wasn't so clueless he would have realised that she grumbled because she cared so much.

What she cared about in the here and now was the fact that her longed for baby would never get the chance to live a life. It deeply upset her, and she sniffed back even more tears. Think of better things, she told herself, like having been given the chance to experience pregnancy even though it had been only for a couple of days. Lots of people don't even get that.

Adjusting her position on the unwelcoming floor to ease an ache in her side, she reasoned that she needed a different emotion to replace her morose one. Looking towards a sudden noise, she got her opportunity. A Dreadel had turned up and was obviously wanting its supper.

'Oh shit!' she immediately thought as fear rapidly filled her. Death she could deal with; it was the thought of a long, slow, lingering, pain-filled death that caused her anxiety. There was only one way to fight fear, only one way to override this deep-seated dread; and she gulped to ready her mind. She had to get good and angry.

"Oi! You!" she yelled out, stabbing a finger towards the creature. "What the hell is this place? Some sort of Tesco's? Hurry up and do this, or let me go immediately. I refuse to wait around for you to pull your finger out of your arse!"

The Dreadel skittered about, confused by the change in her hormonal release into the air. This tasty biped was reacting differently to what it was expecting. It no longer was palatable. Backing up slightly, it swung out its claw.

"It's no good you inviting me to dance with you, or whatever it is that you're trying to signal," Donna continued, now annoyed that it hadn't gotten it over and done with. "There ain't no music, and I'm a bit tied up at the moment."

The taste in the air really was disgusting now, and the Dreadel turned its head about to dismiss it from its sensors. In a desperate attempt to camouflage this, it released a scent towards its potential dinner.

An acrid smell wafted over Donna. "That is rank!" she loudly complained. "Take your halitosis elsewhere, Sunshine! Or better still; go find yourself some decent mouthwash from your dentist. Don't you know anything about manners? Talk about disrespecting your food…"

Stunned that it hadn't gained the response it wanted, the Dreadel accidentally bumped into the wall as it retreated, frantic to get away from this being.

"It was lovely to see you, but don't come back!" Donna shouted after it.

A few seconds later she was on her own again.

"Well, that was weird," she remarked out loud to herself, since she might as well fill the silence onboard the ship. Giving herself a personal sniff, she then added, "Who knew BO could be so useful? Not using new improved Dove for a few days obviously works." She then allowed herself a chuckle before crying a few tears of relief.

* * *

High up above the ground, the TARDIS hovered expectantly as the Doctor sifted through various maps and compared them to the ground below. "Which direction, Harden?"

Harden peered at the images the Doctor had flashed up on the monitor and tried desperately to make sense of them. It was terribly hard when you were only used to seeing the planet surface from one perspective. "Normally they gather to the south," he said helpfully. "There's a massive hole that used to be a boating lake right next to where the main nest is."

"You mean this one?" And the Doctor showed him a particular picture.

"Yes! That's it," Harden cried out. Relief was good to feel again after their recent fright. It meant that things might improve massively very soon.

"Let me see," Jenny begged, and pressed closer.

"We might as well go al fresco," the Doctor suggested, and led the way over to the open door to peep out. There wasn't a great deal of life below them. In fact, if he didn't know any better, he would have been tempted to say the Dreadel had left. "Hmm. I think I need to do a life signs scan."

Jenny stayed by the door, looking out with keen interest by Harden's side as the Doctor returned to the console and typed something. "What have you found, Dad?"

The Doctor thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "That's interesting. Our friends the Dreadel seem to be a lot closer to extinction then I had first anticipated. According to my results there are only three life forms down there, and one of them has Donna's signature."

"Then she's still alive," Harden stated more than questioned, hope spreading through him like wildfire. "We've got here just before they have their dinner."

"We can hope," the Doctor agreed, giving him an encouraging smile. "Let's go and have a look." With that, he turned a small wheel that looked as though it had been cannibalised from a Singer sewing machine, and the TARDIS slightly lunged sideways.

Both Harden and Jenny visually shared their glee. This would have been lots of fun if it weren't so serious. For all they knew, Donna could be already dying.

Seconds later, the TARDIS began to materialise inside the Dreadel ship. "Jenny, you take hold of these," the Doctor told her, tossing across some small canisters, "in case we need a distraction. Don't open them until I tell you to."

"Rightio, Dad," she readily complied, and tucked the canisters into her belt.

"What about me, D-Doctor?" Harden asked; a faint blush on his cheeks as he caught himself. "Do I get a weapon?"

"Not a weapon as such," the Doctor admitted, choosing to ignore the lad's stutter or slip of the tongue. No doubt being with Jenny was rubbing off on him in some inevitable way. "You already have an impressive arsenal with your knowledgeable mind. But here, take a canister or two as well."

Harden deftly caught the bottles and secreted them under his jacket. Accepting the compliment would be something he'd have to work on later; he had other things on his mind first. Getting Donna back would be the key to his future happiness by the looks of things, and he had grown beyond fond of her despite himself. "Just tell me when," he acknowledged the motion, "and I'll deliver them."

"Should we spread out or stick together?" Jenny queried as they headed for the TARDIS doors.

"Keep together," the Doctor advised. "We will need to protect each other from possible attack."

"And if it goes wrong?" Harden cautiously wondered, knowing how easily it could deteriorate from personal experience. "What then?"

The Doctor placed a hand on the lad's shoulder. "Then I take over. Trust me. I've got history."

In that moment, Harden allowed himself to do just that. 

* * *

The TARDIS door slowly opened and a face peeped out. This was the first time Jenny would be able to practice any sort of olfactory misdirection, and she was rightly nervous. But all of that disappeared as soon as she glimpsed towards Harden and saw him sweating.

"It's okay," she reassured him, "we can get through this."

He gulped. "I'm trying to be brave."

"Remember," the Doctor reminded him, "that we were beating the Dreadel before Jenny's guards turned up, so we can do it again."

Harden nodded. He had to concede that that was true, even though it had taken Trelban, Haug and Jolak to actively scare one off. The same creature might be in this very ship. Perhaps it would remember the way they had frightened it off and avoid them. "I can do this."

"Yes, you can," the Doctor agreed. "There is nothing to be frightened of here, only fear itself."

Steeling himself, Harden stepped out into the contained space. There was a staleness to the air and obviously they didn't want to waste precious energy by lighting the place. It was really hard to make out what was surrounding them until the Doctor switched on a torch.

The beam from the torch swung about as they gained their bearings, and then the Doctor took a deep sniff. "This way," he said decisively, and strode onwards with Jenny and Harden trailing behind him.

It hadn't been all that hard for the Doctor to detect Donna's scent; nor the other two creatures that had inhabited this craft. Their smell was very distinct and different from hers. To his relief her trace wasn't heavily laden with the iron undertones of blood. That meant she was still in one piece and probably alive. No, he amended in his mind, she was definitely alive. He refused to believe anything else until he saw the evidence.

They were so close now, he told himself as her scent got stronger; and then he spotted it. In front of them loomed a Dreadel.

"Hello!" he greeted it as breezily as he could, both with words and smell. "I'm the Doctor."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** I have **MonkeesDoctorWho1987** to thank for an idea I've used here

* * *

**Part 14**

.

In the darkness of the Dreadel ship, Donna tried to regroup her thoughts. A wave of nausea swept over her, and she dived desperately for the packet of mints the Doctor had shoved into her pocket. Whatever was in them, they certainly worked a treat. Thank goodness she had been sucking on them as and when needed rather than feasting on them like her greedy tendencies had tried to insist.

Moving her body to look meant pain; lots of bloody pain! If she could see better she would have probably seen a huge bruise across her abdomen from where that Dreadel had grabbed her. It ached from her ribs down to below her navel. Thank God it hadn't gripped her around the pelvis. It might have meant the risk of losing the baby. Okay, there was still a massive risk of doing that, but she'd worry about that later; once she had avoided being sick everywhere. Hopefully.

Finding the bag in her trouser pocket, she sighed with relief when she opened it to find there were still some mints left. Popping one into her mouth, she waited for her morning sickness to dissipate as the reassuring taste hit her palate. Mmmm. She sent out silent prayers of thanks.

If she was going to be rescued by the Doctor, and she really hoped it wasn't a massive 'if', he would have to be able to locate her location exactly. How on earth, or Hureenax, was he going to do that? It wasn't as though she had a distress flare on her.

Then an idea hesitantly crawled through her mind. There was a way if he had formed a parental link with Time Baby.

No! Could she really do that? I mean, contact him in a similar way to that mind melding act he had performed on the Oodsphere. It was certainly worth giving it a go. What else did she have to lose?

Sitting back to rest her head against the bulkhead behind as she sucked slowly on the mint in her mouth, she decided to assess the possible damage to her body. The throbbing in her head and the yuck on her face suggested a head injury that involved a cut. The bruising across her stomach might also have a cut or two. It was hard to tell, since her camisole was a dark colour anyway; but the feel of the cloth was more than a bit crispy in places. As for the state of her trousers, lord knew how bad things were. Thank goodness she had just finished urinating, pre-snatch; otherwise she'd have been facing that situation too; although she hadn't lost her chance to. It all depended on how long she would be kept there, tied up to the wall. She seriously doubted she would get any bathroom breaks from it.

Feeling slightly better as the nausea did its best to slip away, she forced herself up onto her feet. Her ankle complained loudly at this action, as pain erupted from there. Bugger! She must have hit it on something on the way to the Dreadel ship because she certainly hadn't injured it like that earlier in the day when she'd been conscious.

"Okay, Time Baby," she murmured, pressing a hand over where she thought he was currently residing. "Do this for Mummy. For both of us, come to think of it. Help me find Daddy."

There was nothing in response.

"I know you've been talking to him, so don't come the innocent with me," she griped. "All that lip action wasn't for my benefit. Daddy needs to find you; he'd be devastated if he can't get you back. I dread to think what it'd do to him, I really do. So please, Time Baby! Show me how to get him here."

She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and focused her mind onto visualising Time Baby safely encased in his little world inside her body. For a second she didn't think it was working and almost gave up hope; but gradually a slithering golden thread appeared in her mind, dancing about playfully as she tried to grab hold of it.

'There you are!' she cried with delight as his image pulsed with affection. 'Hello, Time Baby. My, you've grown. I was expecting you to be just a blob thing and not a recognisable baby foetus.'

Time Baby reacted with glee to her thoughts. Daddy was helping his brain to develop enough before her body starved to death, and she had to give birth.

Oh! She'd never thought about it like that before, having assumed it was brain development and not bodily supplying nutrients that determined the length of a pregnancy. Since a Time Lord needed extra brain capacity, it made perfect sense that the Doctor would be helping him along the way. And it _was_ a boy she was carrying; there was no doubt about that.

'Tell Daddy where we are,' she requested. 'He needs to get here before the Dreadel come back to eat us.'

There was a blink of something in confirmation; and then the pulsing began to oscillate in a different way. Colours were added in, like a forming tornado.

'That's it, Time Baby,' Donna encouraged, now aware of him reaching out towards the Doctor's mind.

There was a sudden flash of the Doctor, an image of his intense eyes; and then it was gone.

What the heck was that? She gasped as the previous silence returned, and she kept a protective hand over her stomach. As the quietness continued, all she wanted to do was cry. 'Don't die on me now, Time Baby!' she wordlessly begged. For all she knew, the connection had been permanently disconnected, and the thought terrified her more than her own impending doom.

* * *

Behind the Doctor, Harden found Jenny's calm presence helpful as he reined in his fear of the Dreadel. She was exuding a similar odour to the Doctor, and he readily accepted that this was the way to deal with the situation. After all, what did he know? Shouting at them and kicking them in the face hadn't worked all the other times he had come across these things. So he mentally took a backseat and watched the Doctor perform.

The creature seemed bemused for some seconds, as though an unexpected free delivery had suddenly turned up on the doorstep from Pizza Hut. It edged closer to these three unexpected meals, and tasted the Doctor's words. What?!

"What are you?" it asked in surprise.

Fortunately the TARDIS now had some data on these creatures so she could readily translate the Dreadel's question for the three travellers. Harden's jaw dropped in awe as he 'heard' the words.

"As I said, I'm the Doctor. A Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey," he supplied.

"You cannot be," the Dreadel denied in shock. "Time Lords are things in stories from long ago."

"Apparently not," the Doctor countered. "I've come to collect what is mine."

This weird little animal was insisting it handed something over! The Dreadel did the equivalent of a chuckle. "What do I have of yours and why should I give it to you?"

The Doctor stepped nearer, his intention to intimidate. "You took my wife and child. I can take you to a better world if you just let me have them back."

"And if I don't?" the Dreadel inevitable asked, goading him. "What then?"

The threatening atmosphere intensified.

"If you do not let me take them back, I shall destroy you and your mate! I shall show you no mercy," the Doctor sternly declared.

"You upstart!" There was the equivalent of a roar of anger, and the Dreadel lunged at the Doctor.

Immediately the Doctor countered the attack by switching on his sonic screwdriver. "On your head be it."

The resultant pulse forced the Dreadel to fall backwards and away from the TARDIS trio. It let out a howl of distress, flinging a toxic waft of some chemical over them in retaliation.

Jenny had hardly moved to grab one of the canisters tied to her waist when the other Dreadel appeared to answer its mate's distress call. Its great head filled the chamber they stood in, as it thrashed around to locate them. She nudged Harden to throw a canister too, in the opposite direction to the one she'd tossed away.

The Doctor seemed to be set in stone as he deepened the output of the sonic screwdriver, its resonance altering the Dreadel's perception as the odours from the canisters distracted what little sense they had left.

Only Jenny and the Doctor winced at the detected terror in the Dreadel scent release as they reared up in panic, not knowing which direction to go in order to avoid this horrendous assault.

Each of the Dreadel got in the others way and they lashed out at each other with their sharp claws; jabbing and slicing a path out of the chamber. Harden wanted to feel sympathy for them as they suffered injury after injury, but he couldn't find it in him as he was too busy keeping out of their way and looking for another strategic place to open another canister.

The Dreadel were absolutely covered in the chemicals from the canisters. Everything they did seemed to strengthen the retched taste of it upon their tongues. With a ferocity Harden had only seen a few times before, the creatures stumbled their way out of the chamber, still fighting each for supremacy as they went.

And then there was an almighty boom as the Dreadel evidently fell out of the nest ship and onto the hard surface below.

Harden bent over, panting for breath in the dissipating acrid air. "Do you think they are dead?" he hesitantly wondered, hoping that they were.

"We won't know until we look," the Doctor admitted. "But for now I'm going to seal that outer door shut so that they can't come back in," he continued as the changed tone of the sonic screwdriver whirled up and he momentarily disappeared out of the chamber. Seconds later he was back, grinning triumphantly. "That's put out the rubbish! Now to go and find Donna."

"Dad, is she still alive?" Jenny risked asking but not able to actually face him as she did so.

His grin didn't disappear. "She is so alive," he informed her and strode off, shining a torch before him in the encompassing darkness.

"But… how do you know?" Harden wanted to believe him as he followed the Doctor down a corridor in the ship.

To his surprise, the Doctor pointed to his head. "I can feel them thanks to Time Baby. Isn't that terrific?!"

Harden nodded back, still not totally convinced. For all he knew, the Doctor was merely referring to a gut feeling; and he was very aware how misleading that could be.

They got to a crossroads, and the Doctor stopped sharp. "Donna!" he yelled out, stressing the two syllables.

There was an answering feeble "Doctor!" to their right.

Like a shot, he was off. The Doctor raced to where the voice had come from and found, in a small antechamber, Donna tied by one wrist to the wall, and covered in blood from head to toe. He dreaded to think how extensive her injuries were.

"Donna!" he cried in horror, and hurriedly knelt to hug her trembling broken form to him. "I'm here. I'm here. Sh shh shhh! I'm here now," he soothed her with gentle words, stroking her hair with tender touches.

"Is this real? I thought you'd never come for me," she sobbed with relief as he cradled her to his chest. All she wanted to do was bury herself in his comforting warmth.

"Of course I came for you," he crooned, giving her a tighter hug and rubbing his face against her hair. It took some moments for Donna to stop trembling so much, so he was eventually able to pull his sonic out of his pocket and zap the bindings on Donna's wrist, instantly freeing her. "Where have you been hurt?"

"Across my stomach, my head, all sorts of places," she supplied in a shaky voice as they resumed their embrace and she wrapped both of her arms tightly around the Doctor's waist.

"It's okay. We'll sort all that out once we get back home to the TARDIS," he cooed, adding in a kiss to her temple to ground himself. Donna needed him calm and comforting rather than the fiery ball of anger he wanted to be. Whoever had injured her like this would pay dearly, if they hadn't already!


	15. Chapter 15

**Part 15**

.

Jenny had gone forward to pick up the discarded torch from the floor in front of Donna and shone it about the room. Everything she saw in the low light was dingy and insanitary. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "This place isn't fit to keep an animal in."

Donna wanted to greet the girl but she was too exhausted and unwilling to let go of the Doctor now that safety had arrived. Instead she managed to smile weakly at her. "It's a larder," she muttered in explanation; but Jenny heard her easily enough.

"Would all of their food have been brought in here?" Harden pondered as the torch shone on the other shackles that lined the walls.

"Probably," the Doctor confirmed, sensing that Harden was thinking of his sister. "Jenny, would you help me get Donna to her feet?"

Donna gave out a whimper of pain as she stood on one foot, and they all crowded in with sympathy. Jenny was the first to be pulled into a feeble hug. "Oh Jenny," was all Donna managed to gasp out for a second. And then she spotted Harden hovering anxiously close by them and grabbed hold of him in turn. "My wee Hardy. Thank god you're safe," she tearfully told him.

"I'm fine," he assured her as he held on tight; relieved beyond his imagining to see her alive.

Reluctantly, Harden let the Doctor take over the hug again, since the Doctor's relief was palpable; and who could blame him after such a scare?

To all their surprise, the Doctor bent low and lifted Donna up into his arms. "Let's get you home to the TARDIS," he proposed.

As he had expected, Donna swatted at his shoulder. "Put me down, you idiot!" she cried out weakly.

"Why? We need to carry you to the infirmary," he stated innocently.

"Because I'm a whopping great big lump. That's why," she remarked in tones heavily under-laced with embarrassment. "You'll do your back in at this rate."

"I don't know. A man tries to rescue his wife and all he gets is grief," he pretended to gripe as he lowered her onto her feet. "A manly Time Lord at that."

To his delight, she smirked at him as she continued to hold onto his shoulders. "Get over yourself," she scoffed.

"Would you be happier if Jenny and Harden helped to carry you? I'm sure we could do it with some decorum," he offered.

Her answer was instant. "Who cares about that? Just get me home."

"Your wish is my command," he acquiesced, starting to pick her up again. "Jenny, Harden, grab her legs."

As they began to manhandle her, Donna joked, "To think Cinderella got to ride in a pumpkin coach. I'm missing out." She then winced in pain, hoping they hadn't noticed.

Of course they had, and tried to walk with her more quickly.

"Ah, but like Cinderella you get to dance with a prince," the Doctor reminded her jovially.

Casting a cautious glance towards Jenny, Donna retorted, "Depends what your definition of dancing is." When his eyebrows shot up into his hairline in shock, she quickly added, "This is the closest we've ever remotely been to dancing together."

"You've never danced together!" Jenny blurted out in disbelief. "All your adventures together and you haven't even attended a ball?"

The Doctor gave a defensive sniff. "It just hasn't happened. But there was dancing at Donna's wedding reception. I was there for that one."

"Oh yeah? Which one?" Harden cried out in protest.

Donna gave Harden a consoling touch on the arm. "The first one. It doesn't matter which one because he still didn't dance with me. He was off investigating."

Feeling Jenny glaring at him, the Doctor commented, "You were too busy dancing with Lance to worry about me."

"Ooh, jealous?" Donna teased. "Yes, I was so set on Lance that I followed you at the drop of a hat. Or, should I say, explosion of a Christmas bauble?"

"Don't look at me. I don't know either," Harden answered Jenny's questioning gaze.

"It was just something that happened," the Doctor dismissed. "Ah! There she is!" he greeted the welcome sight of the TARDIS. With a shuffle in his pocket, he produced a key that he handed over to Harden to use. "It'd be very handy if I had remote locking on that. I'll get round to doing it one day when I'm bored."

"You won't have time to be bored with a brand new baby," Harden scoffed as they entered the TARDIS.

Jenny's keen curiosity was re-awakened. "Are babies that intellectually stimulating when they are born? Will we all get a chance to interact with Time Baby?"

Donna barely managed to stifle a giggle, despite the discomfort she was enduring as they took her through to the med bay. "Oh Jenny. You have no idea, love. Remind me to give you the full talk as soon as I feel better."

"I don't understand," Jenny forlornly admitted as Donna was laid down on a bed.

"I know, love," Donna said kindly as she patted Jenny's hand. "Just make the most of not knowing."

"Exactly!" the Doctor loudly agreed as he moved about in the infirmary, collecting items to use in order to clean Donna up, and directed Harden to fetch other things like blankets from out of his storage cabinet. "Now you just lie there quietly, Donna Smith Noble, and let me see to those injuries of yours."

Donna placed her hands over the top of his as he went to take hold of the clothing around her waist. "Do I have to do this with a full audience?" she halted him.

"I have to see," he insisted, "or I can't deal with it."

"True. But do they have to see everything too? It's bad enough letting you look," she shyly confessed.

"We'll go make a drink and find some food, eh Jenny," Harden instantly offered. "You must be starving."

"Thank you," Donna gratefully acknowledged as Harden tugged on Jenny's arm to pull her out of the infirmary.

"We'll be along later, once we're all finished," the Doctor aimed towards Harden as the younger pair disappeared out of the room, "so don't wait for us."

"But I was watching!" Jenny could be heard to loudly grumble down the corridor.

The Doctor turned his amused expression back to Donna and his face softened when he asked, "Do you want me to go too?"

"It seems daft to ask your own husband not to look, especially after all that stomach stuff you did the other night," she reasoned, "but..."

"But?" he encouraged her to continue.

Donna averted her eyes. "It's just, I feel disgustingly smelly and yucky after wearing these things for days."

"Hmm. I know! What you need is a nice relaxing bath to ease all those aching muscles," the Doctor suddenly proclaimed. "I'll go and run you one. But first I need to get us into the Vortex. If I remember correctly, there should be a bathroom attached to this room. Won't be long."

Before she could utter another word, he had raced off, leaving her all alone. "This is getting to be a habit," she commented to no one in particular.

* * *

Within two minutes he returned with a triumphant grin on his face. "I found it! And the TARDIS has added in a door to your bedroom. The bath is running. Now all we have to do is get you into the bathroom."

Donna instantly gave the wall beside her a fond pat of thanks for the TARDIS before she considered his words. "I can try and walk it," she offered.

"No you can't," he insisted. "I am taking complete care of you. This time I'll carry you the short distance."

"You really don't have to do the whole caveman act," she complained as he stooped to pick her up, but the words were futile.

"Time Lord, Donna," he retorted with a sniff. "Get it right!"

What more could she say? So she let him struggle to carry her the few steps into the adjacent bathroom, and squealed with delight when she saw the décor. "Oh my! This like one of those expensive hotels you see on telly; except I've never seen a bath that big. It could easily fit two people."

"Anything for my wife," he gleefully declared as he set her down onto a padded leather stool next to it. "The TARDIS obviously lo-likes you too."

Okay, she decided to let him get away with that one. For now. The TARDIS also got another fond pat of thanks.

As she began to cautiously try to tackle the button at her waist, the Doctor suddenly threw off his shoes and socks, rolled up his trouser legs, and stepped nimbly into the huge bathtub.

What the…! In shock, she snapped, "What the hell do you think you are doing, Sunshine?"

After sprinkling a healthy measure of some sort of mineral salts thing into the bath water, his expression was nonplussed. "Adding in something to dispel those bruises, and then I'm helping you get in," he simply said.

"You dumbo. You'll get your clothes soaking wet if you do that!" she raged.

Looking down at his attire, he had to agree. "Yes, you're right. I need to strip off." And with that, he stepped back out whilst he began to undo his shirt.

"Doctor!" she shrieked. "You can't do this; not with me!"

"Who else am I going to this with?" he griped. "The object of the exercise was to get you into the bath. I'll get undressed first and then deal with you."

Immediately she was horror-struck, and held up her hands defensively. "What?! I don't think you are, Sunshine! We may have a piece of paper that says we are married, but no. No no no!"

He frowned in anger, stilling his fingers as they alighted on his tie. "You have to be undressed when you get in the bath!"

"Maybe. But _you_ don't have to," she bit back.

"Then how will you get in there? As you insisted on pointing out to me just now, I'd be soaked otherwise," he reasoned.

"Then you'll have to get soaked," she countered.

"Donna," he said with some exasperation, "we don't have to be completely naked together yet if that's what's worrying you. We'll do this so that we can be in our underwear. How does that sound?"

Reluctantly she agreed, "That's not too bad, I suppose." It was certainly far better than being naked in front of him.

"Do you want me to assist?" he asked, pointing towards her trousers.

She waved off his help. "No, I can do this." Except she couldn't, and pain bloomed through her body as soon as she tried to bend down to see what she was doing. Tears pricked at her eyes as frustration, tiredness and hunger overtook her normal sensitivities.

Bending down to take over, the Doctor smiled reassuringly at her. "Trousers are such tricky things. Here, let me help you with that." Within seconds he had efficiently moved her trousers down and from off her feet, along with her footwear, giving him the chance to sweep his gaze up her legs. "Lots of bruises to deal with," he mumbled as he saw the stark contrast between her pale skin and the angry marks that covered most of her thighs. Marks that spread up and across her body in a large horribly purple splodge. "I'm so sorry," he sobbed on a whisper.

"It's not your fault," she readily assured him as his countenance crumpled into guilt.

She really was worried about him in that moment. It wasn't like him to let his hair go wherever it liked, or not to shave for several days. Everything about him looked broken, and her heart went out to him. She knew he needed her but sometimes it was tangible.

"But it is my fault," he quietly insisted. "I wasn't able to stop that Dreadel from taking you. I almost lost you; both of you."

"We're here, alive and kicking. There's just a few bruises on me; that's all," she softly disputed. "No permanent harm done." Donna then eyed the bath thoughtfully. "I think we could both do with a long relaxing soak. What do you think?"


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** this part contains no plot whatsoever and is heavy on the Ten/Donna relationship; so some of you might want to skip it. Personally, I think you should be amazed that I avoided writing a sex scene... The temptation was terrific!

* * *

**Part 16**

.

A long soak in the bath together sounded wonderful; and exactly what he had been hoping for. The Doctor grinned with relief. "Are you really okay with doing this with me? I could build a wall of towels or something if that helped."

"You prawn," Dona tenderly chided, glad to see him cheer up. "You've already seen all you're going to see, so let's try out these magical bath salts of yours. If they work, I reserve the right to market them when we get back to London."

"Oh, they'll work," he confidently assured her as he flung the last of his clothing to the floor, leaving him in just his underpants. "They're Betamilius V's finest; guaranteed to ease away any bruise. But we might turn blue for a while…"

"You'd better be making that up," she warned as she struggled to lift away her top. She relented, and allowed him to first help her to fling away her camisole and then place his arm underneath her bare legs. "Otherwise I'm officially calling you Smurfette."

"Shouldn't that be you?" he went to ask, and the caught on to the mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I can live with that. Not that I'm saying I will have to."

"Says you," she snorted her scorn.

Holding on as tightly to him as she could manage, with her arms wrapped around his neck, the Doctor lifted Donna with ease. One cautious step and then another took them into the bath.

"Here comes the tricky bit," he commented as they descended into the bath water. He sat her in front of him, placing her almost within his lap between his splayed legs; her back to his front. "That's it. Just lean back onto me," he suggested, guiding her shoulders with his hands.

"This is weird, sitting in a bath in my bra and knickers," she remarked as she followed his lead.

"We can go completely naked if you like," he offered, and held in his giggle when the skin on her face and neck flushed a deep crimson colour in embarrassment.

"No, this is fine, thanks," she mumbled self-consciously. "I was only saying; nothing more. It isn't as weird as sitting like this with you."

"Ah, but we are married now so it shouldn't be wrong," he deliberately spoke directly into her ear, wanting to see her reaction up-close. "This is allowed."

"Geroff!" she scoffed. "You don't half like dragging that up, for someone who doesn't like domesticity." Wanting to distract their attention, her hand floundered for something to touch in the water, and it immediately shot back out again when she realised she was accidentally caressing his leg. His long, lean and manly hairy leg, which was surprising nice to touch. Not that she was going to admit that in a hurry. "Sorry. I thought you were the loofah for a second," she hastily lied.

Amused by her tone, he smirked. This situation was working very well so far; she'd already shown some appreciation for his body. "There's a bath sponge somewhere around here," he replied, and splayed his fingers under the water. Finding it, he placed it in her hand, keeping his palm over it, and then offered, "Shall I help you clean?"

"I don't think…," she began to hesitantly dismiss him.

With gentle pressure he moved her hand, demonstrating how exactly he intended to help by getting her to rub the bath sponge on the scented soap he had also found on the edge of the bath. "See! I won't touch you directly," he explained as he guided her movements down her cheek and then along her shoulder. "This way you can wash yourself without using too much effort."

His mouth had strayed no more than a few centimetres away from her ear as he spoke, causing a faint shiver to ripple through her body. Donna found his respectful actions completely seductive; and also a little soporific. "You're too kind," she sleepily murmured.

"Are you going to sleep on me?" he asked as her head slumped backwards onto his shoulder.

"No," she denied in a faint voice. "You carry on. I'm just going to rest here for a while. You're surprisingly comfortable."

He carried on washing her limbs and her stomach, avoiding any danger zones; taking great care as he did so to cause her no pain. "Then I'll let you rest for a minute or two," he amiably offered, "but after that I insist that we dry off, and you eat something before we get you into bed."

"We? Who's we?" she softly queried, teasing him.

A thought occurred to him. "Oh, talking of him, I have to check on Time Baby later. He wants you suitably rested too," he explained.

"Okay," she agreed far too easily, compared to normal, and turned sideways in the deep bath water to nuzzle into his neck.

* * *

Out in the kitchen, Jenny was beginning to get rather fidgety as she waited patiently on a high stool. Harden had searched through various cupboards and opened doors, looking for any food he would find remotely recognisable. There were lots of jars and bottles of items he had no knowledge of. And if that wasn't bad enough, the labels held writing that was completely foreign to him.

Picking up a particularly large jar of rustic coloured ingredients, he held it out towards Jenny for inspection. "Any idea what this is?" he asked her. "I don't know what it says on the side but it certainly isn't in Blethin."

Jenny peered at the label, the contents, and then back at the writing. "That's written in Gallifreyan. Dad taught me," she supplied. "See that circular script? That says 'marmalade', whatever that is."

Unable to hold in his gasp of surprise, Harden stared at the writing as the squiggles became recognisable. "It's changed! It didn't look like that a moment ago. It's now in Blethin, not Gaggyland speak or whatever it is that you just said."

"It does?" Jenny queried in wonder, now seeing the language of the settlers in Heiligtum appear before them. "That is amazing! I know Dad said that his ship is wonderful but I never expected the TARDIS to do this sort of thing. I wonder if it works for everything else."

Thus challenged, they shared a delighted smirk of possible discovery and then started to pull out various packaged items to compare together. The result was the same for everything they chose. In next to no time, they had a pile of goods on the kitchen table that they had heard of, and an enormous stack of goodies that they hadn't.

With growing confidence, Harden picked three jars and suggested, "If you start putting stuff away, I'll prepare us something to eat from these. Any idea yet what that metal pot on the counter is for?"

"No," Jenny reluctantly admitted as she eyed the kettle sitting next to the unexplored toaster. "But I'm sure we'll find out later. It all looks very strange to me."

"I can guess where the water comes from, and that the large metal thing there is used to cook with, but that's it," Harden confessed with a shrug. "Alien technology is very confusing; but also rather exciting! Donna will be able to tell us. Talking about her, where are they?"

They both turned towards the open kitchen door, hoping to see someone to explain the foreign components of the room. Alas, there was no one there.

Unperturbed, they tucked into a small feast of their own making, ravenous from their recent exploits. It was an extremely welcome meal, but they carefully didn't overdo it. They were too used to being cautious when food was supplied. Once sated, they drank plenty of water from the kitchen supply, using some containers they had found in one of the cupboards.

It was only then that they keenly felt the absence of the Doctor and Donna. They had been parted from them for what felt like ages.

"Perhaps we ought to go and find them?" Jenny fretted.

"We should leave them alone together for a bit longer," Harden reasoned. "If it's women's things, Donna won't appreciate us barging in."

Jenny was appalled by his language. "What do you mean by women's things? What difference does being a woman make with injuries?"

Oh dear! Jenny may have been Heiligtum's goddess but she didn't understand a lot of colloquialisms. "Well… I erm…," Harden floundered as he sought the right words to describe what he meant.

"I'm going to see," Jenny suddenly declared decisively, and shot off like a rocket. "And you can't stop me!"

"Wait, Jenny!" he called after her as she inevitably headed towards the infirmary. "I really don't think we should," he mumbled to himself as he followed on behind, knowing the words would be futile.

Seconds later they burst into the med bay, only to find it empty.

"Where could they have gone?" Jenny asked right before she abruptly turned her head and listened intently.

Harden copied her, and noted the splashing of water, low voices and groans from far off that seemed to be coming from behind a particular door. "Don't, Jenny!" he harshly whispered at her as she reached out towards the door handle.

She stopped, but she petulantly wondered, "Why?"

Sighing, he steeled himself to confess, "I wasn't going to say but I once caught my parents… at _it_. You know. Sex. To be honest, I never got over it, although worse has happened to us since. So, just in case your dad and Donna are doing anything like that, I think it best for your sake if I peek first."

When he continued to stare at her, almost daring her to move, Jenny relented. "Okay, you can look first. But I reserve the right to look too!"

Giving her that small grace, Harden took hold of the handle, made a gesture to Jenny to stay silent, and opened the door a fraction. Steam plumed up for a second as he peeped in, and then he saw a large bathtub with two occupants who were seated facing away from him. Two occupants who were sat extremely closely together. Thanks to a wall mirror, Harden could just about make out the figure of the Doctor with his head resting on Donna's and his arms wrapped around her. Both of them had their eyes shut, were very low in the water; and their clothes were strewn on the floor.

Unable to keep the smile off his face, Harden gently shut the door on them, and turned back to inform Jenny of what he had seen. "They're in the bath together, looking very lovey-dovey," he whispered.

"Is that good?" she quietly pondered.

Is that good?! Sometimes Harden wondered how Jenny coped with the everyday life of the settlement. "It certainly is, after all they've been through. But they'll probably be quite a time joining us, by the looks of things."

Unable to resist any longer, Jenny then pushed passed him to sneak a peek. "Oh!" she gasped out once she had re-shut the door. "I see what you mean. They weren't like that before."

"They certainly weren't," he agreed; and then they jumped when a shout came from within the bathroom.

.

* * *

The Doctor had turned them slightly more in the water kept gloriously warm thanks to an attentive TARDIS. Donna now lay partially draped over him; her face resting on his chest as she softly dozed. As she slumbered, he scooped up spongefuls of water and gently cascaded it over her back. Something in her sleepy smile told him that she liked that very much.

To be honest, his mind was torn between enjoying having her wrapped with his embrace and giving in to the growing hunger in his stomach. Deciding to let Donna make the choice for him, he whispered tenderly into her ear, "Donna, love, are you awake? I wanted to know if you are ready to get out and eat yet."

Snuffling awake, she blearily asked "What?" and then pulled herself up, using her hands on his chest to push away. The only trouble was that, in so doing, she accidentally ended up straddling his lower torso. "Oh!" she squeaked in embarrassment as unexpected pleasure assaulted her senses.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** I'm sorry for the long delay in updating, due to health problems.  
**A/N2:** this part also contains no plot whatsoever... well, almost... perhaps one plot point or two. But mainly it doesn't. If you read the previous part you'll know _exactly_ what sort of thing it'll contain.

* * *

**Part 17**

.

Oh no! Hearing the squeak of embarrassment, the Doctor knew only too well why Donna had made it, because he'd barely contained his own squeal of shock that she'd straddled him suggestively. Not that he was complaining, mind you; about the straddling aspect. Who would turn down possibly fulfilling that sort of fantasy? Okay, the only person he knew who possibly would want to fulfil such a thing on a regular basis was Captain Jack Harkness, but even so, even a man/Time Lord like himself who seldom found themselves in such a situation could appreciate the delights it offered. It was this appreciation that had made him risk a slap by enjoying it.

Well, what did he have to lose after all? She had already discovered that he was enjoying somewhat their intimate encounter in the bathtub, lying skin to skin in the cooling water; although he was sure his embarrassment could have heated up the surrounding water quite nicely all on its own. But now that she had added to the erm… the experience by creating delicious friction between their bodies, the game was up; if you'll pardon the expression. There was no way he could hide his building interest from her now. He wasn't just some dead piece of cod. Should he merely brazen it out for the time being?

The Doctor determinedly kept his strong hands on Donna's hips, stopping her from moving away from him any further. It took every ounce of his concentration to force things back down from a beckoning pleasurable plateau and tamper his desire to encourage her lower proximity. In the end he sent up a silent pray to any deity that might be listening to give him a break from his arousing instincts before Donna broke his neck for his impudence.

Having stabilised himself, he took in a deep lungful of air. Rather steamy air. "I asked if you want to eat," he breathily summarised.

Eat? Eat what exactly? She gazed down at his taut body beneath her, fighting off several inappropriate thoughts where she wanted to at least taste him first, or lick him at the very least. His neck could have done with a good biting, for a start. And his nicely toned, hairy chest practically begged to be explored. Appalled, she mentally shook herself for giving in to this new madness. "I erm… I could do something… I mean, eat some food."

In fact it had been hours since she'd last eaten anything at all, let alone had a decent meal. Probably explained why she was thinking of nibbling on his ear. And knowing him, he must have been ravenously hungry, since he normally had the appetite of a horse. 'Best not to think of horses,' she quickly told herself as she eased herself carefully from where she had been sitting; but that horse analogy was fairly persistent.

His eyes were dark and intense by the time she raised her eyes to look back at his face. 'Those are damned sexy eyes when he does that.' The unbidden thought made her quickly drop her head to hide her blush against his shoulder.

Then those full lips of his pressed against her ear. "Are you okay?" he asked.

It was on the tip of her tongue to deny everything. "I'm just a bit… it's all a bit weird," she pathetically tried to explain.

Oooh! That meant something else, he surmised. He smiled knowingly as he reasoned it out. "Can you feel them?"

He didn't just say that! Did he? Surely not. "What!" she snapped in disbelief. It was bad enough to feel parts of him she wasn't supposed to, without them going on to discuss it, for goodness sake!

"The Betamiliati," he clarified, casting his gaze onto her delicately pink skin. It was a far better sight then all those bruises. "I see they've done a very nice job on you."

"The who?" She couldn't be more confused in that moment if she had tried as she deliberately ignored his sauciness. What a weird way to name your body parts. "Is that what you call… them?"

"Not just me, everyone does," he patiently said. "Why, what does your planet call them? Anyway, as I was saying, they've almost cleared up your bruises"

"Hang on." Donna shook her head to clear out the stupid. "I've lost the plot here. What are you talking about?"

Sighing, he told her, "The Betamiliati in the bath water. Remember what you mistakenly thought was bath salts? It was a compound containing numerous Betamiliati. They have eliminated most of your bruising without harming you or Time Baby in any way. They've also cleaned up all the blood in the water that came off you. Isn't that fantastic? Molto bene!"

"I don't know," she admitted warily. "It would help if I knew what a Betamiliati is."

"Plural, Donna," he corrected. "They are microscopic creatures that are like a cross between leeches and those Japanese fish that eat the dead skin off your feet; except they prefer unwanted blood that's not being used anymore."

"I'm sitting in leeches!" she despaired, sitting up abruptly. "That is… Ew!"

"Leeches are wonderful creatures that are still used in Earth medicine," he defended, reaching out to try and draw her skilfully toward him. "Look how they have left your skin." As he spoke, he trailed a finger seductively up her side. "Totally unblemished and so smooth to the touch. Like cream with toffee swirls. Your skin is beautifully soft and silky," he purred.

His tone and words mesmerised her as an involuntary groan of pleasure escaped from her mouth. Could he really be saying and doing such things to her, of all people? "It is?" she questioned.

"Oh it is," he continued to croon, sliding his hand across her back to gently guide her body forward to rest on him; bringing her lips ever closer and eliciting another happy sigh. "Deliciously so. In fact I could do this all day; stroking your skin. It's beautiful."

He had barely said the compliments that were working so well in his favour when there was the sudden interrupting sound of voices outside in the infirmary to break the spell.

Every word that Harden and Jenny spoke could be easily heard, and it was very clear to the bath occupants that they were about to be investigated. Donna found herself holding her breath, tensing up, as she waited to be discovered half naked in the bath with the Doctor, with her pressed up against him in a compromising position.

"There's no need to be worried," the Doctor softly assured her, giving her temple a kiss to seal the deal that he'd protect her dignity.

She was about to retaliate with something along the lines of "don't drag up being married as an excuse again" when the door clicked ominously open and a whoosh of cold air seeped into the bathroom, making her shiver under the onslaught.

"It's okay. It's okay," the Doctor continued to sooth her, using his hand to gently splash water onto her lower back.

But even he couldn't remain still when he heard that they were being discussed in such a blatant manner; all that foolish talk about catching them having sex could scupper his carefully laid plans.

"HARDEN! Shut the door behind you and deal with getting us some food!" he yelled out once he'd lifted his head away from Donna.

"Oops! Okay, I'll do you both something to eat and leave it out here," Harden near shrieked in response; and then guiltily gazed at Jenny. "Why don't we leave them to it and do kitchen things? Afterwards we can go and explore this place a bit more," he proposed.

Jenny hastily agreed, nodding fervently. She didn't want her dad to shout at her in that way too.

Once the door was shut, a horrified Donna released her tight hold on the Doctor's shoulders. "Time to get out, don't you think."

"We do have a slight problem," he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. "With the getting out part, not the whole teenage disgust we just experienced."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Come on then, Brain of Britain; what's the problem with getting out the bath?"

"To properly dry off, we definitely need to be naked if we want to do it properly. The er… the drying off and not… although… no, I shouldn't say that," he stammered. "I could go and get us dressing gowns; save all that possible embarrassment since we don't have any clean clothes with us in here."

"Doctor," she began slowly, "a towel will do for now. And it isn't far to the bedroom."

A faint blush appeared on his cheeks. "Okay," he blustered as the word 'bedroom' resonated in his head; especially as she'd made it sound like they'd be continuing to share. Well, that's what he hoped she meant. "But we need to eat first. Hopefully Harden and Jenny have left us something out there."

"Or run screaming to the hills," Donna joked. "I know I would have been mortified at seeing my mum and dad together in the bath."

"Erm, Donna," the Doctor began and hastily cleared his throat. "About Harden…"

"I know, I know," she interrupted his assumed dismissal of the boy. "The thing is, I still want him to stay with us, and I know you are against me thinking this way, but I want to adopt him with or without your say so. Of course I'd love you to erm…" She paused as the Doctor giggled. "What's so funny, Sunshine? If you laugh at me when I'm being sincere I shall knock you into next week!"

"Donna, Donna," he crooned to appease her, gently taking hold of both her hands. "Your loyalty to Harden is admirable."

"Yeah? And your point is? Just because you gained Jenny in five seconds don't mean that I can't do the same sort of thing, even if he is a cheeky little sod at times."

"Part of his charm for you, obviously," he smirked, and got whacked on the shoulder for his trouble. "I'm not attacking your motives for liking Harden! In fact I've grown fond of him myself."

"So?" she encouraged, letting him grasp both her hands again.

"So I thought we could ask him if he'd like to stay with us," the Doctor murmured, "if you like?"

"If?!" she shrieked, and threw her arms around his neck in an ecstatic flurry. "I bloody love you!"

His arms immediately tightened around her body. "And I lo-" The breath stuttered in his throat, and he gave a cough. "Anything for my best friend. I'll even marry you. Oh yes! I've already done that," he teased.

"Have you? I'd have never known," she mocked him. "You'd have thought you would have mentioned it by now."

"I know," he happily agreed. "I like to keep quiet about these things."

Donna quirked an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She then seductively trailed her fingertips along his collarbone. "What else are you keeping quiet about? Hopefully you know that you can tell me your deepest, darkest secrets."

"Oh I know!" he squeaked. It was on his mind to make the ultimate admission when her body moved against him again and an earlier problem threatened to reassert itself. Battling to overcome the response, he brightly suggested, "I'm starving! Let's go and eat."

Not waiting for her answer, he stood, taking her bodily with him as he did so, and held his breath as she inadvertently slid down him until they both stood together in the bath.

"We're going then? Okay," she commented, stunned by the sudden change of position. As they stood there dripping, the comparatively chill air hit her skin as he continued to gaze silently down at her. "Shouldn't we actually get out of the bath? It sort of helps if you're trying to do other stuff."

"Out of the bath! Yes, I can do that," he almost exploded with enthusiasm. "I'll get you a towel."

He then neatly stepped away from her and strode across the bathroom to where a pile of fluffy white towels sat waiting to be used. Shaking out a bath sheet, he wrapped it around his waist before approaching her with another one. "Come on then. Out you pop," he encouraged her, holding up the large unfolded towel in invitation.

She stood there hesitantly. "I'm not sure I can step out easily," she confessed, and glanced down at her foot.

"You don't need to," he confidently replied, and had the towel around her body before she could say Jack Robinson; or anybody else's name. "I'm in charge of this bit, if you'll allow me." He then swept her up into his arms. "The bedroom awaits."


	18. Chapter 18

**Part 18**

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As they turned to leave, Donna thought to ask, "Which bedroom are we heading for?"

The Doctor almost stumbled as the implications hit him. They might not be sharing after all. "I assume you want your bedroom, but we can always go to mine. I don't mind either way," he said, hoping he had kept the eagerness out of his voice.

"Depends where they've left us something to eat, surely," she countered.

He hadn't thought of that. It might be a way of retrieving this. "Jenny! Harden!" he called out as they stepped into the corridor. "Did you leave us anything to eat?"

A voice from a fair way down the corridor shouted back, "We left it in a bedroom. I think it's Donna's, Dad!"

"Thank you!" he gratefully acknowledged Jenny. He then thought to enquire, "Where are you and what are you doing?"

"N-nothing!" came the reply. "We've found a load of old books. Harden is helping me investigate what questions to ask Donna..." There was low anxious whispering as they obviously argued about something. "... I mean Mum, later on when she feels better. We're having trouble deciding what an egg looks like exactly. There seems to be a variety of styles."

"Oh my gawd! I bet she thinks we grow out of chicken eggs," Donna deduced.

"Or something the size of an ostrich egg," he considered. "We'll sort all of that out later," he shouted down to Jenny.

"Don't forget to eat," Harden added in as his head bobbed momentarily into view.

"We won't," the Doctor assured him, and then beamed with delight at Donna still patiently held in his arms. "Our wedding breakfast is ready."

"For someone who hates domesticity, you don't half go on about our marriage a lot," she remarked. "Is it written in your contract or something? Anyone would think you are pleased about it."

"As a matter of fact, we _do_ have a contract; one of marriage, made with vows. Is it wrong to be chivalrous and marry the mother of my child?" he countered petulantly.

"So all this," she continued, glancing down at her predicament, "is because you're a gentleman? I'd ask which century you came from, but I already know that one. The 1100s must have been a blast. Shame you didn't go the full William Wallace and wear a kilt."

Hearing the teasing lilt of her words filled him with amusement. "I'm sure there's a kilt in my wardrobe somewhere that I could dig out and wear for you. Until then, will a humble towel do?"

She leaned in to suggest, "To do it properly you'd have to go…"

"And here we are!" he then announced, accidentally interrupting her, as he swung them into her bedroom.

Sitting on the dressing table was a tray full with two drinks and plates of food, much to their mutual relief. Seconds later he gently deposited her onto the bed.

Staying bent over her, he asked, "I'd have to go where?"

His continuing nearness was starting to play havoc with her senses. She pointed vaguely at his knees. "You'd have to…" A loud squeak of surprise forced its way out of her mouth when he brought himself down onto the bedcovers to recline next her, his attention fixed on her as he listened. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting that for some reason. I was referring to kilts being worn so that you go commando."

He frowned. "That means without underwear, doesn't it? Well, I've got to get rid of these anyway." With that, he thrust his hands under the towel and grabbed hold of his underpants.

"Wait!" she cried out before he could go any further. "Don't you want to do that somewhere else?" she softly wondered.

"Like where?" he asked, looking the picture of innocence, when in fact he felt completely thwarted.

"Like your room, dumbo," she mocked him.

"But Donna," he grumbled, "I can't go anywhere else. Look behind you."

So she turned to look behind her towards the door, and gasped. "Where did all that stuff come from?!"

The room had expanded and now included several bookshelves, another wardrobe, and a large ornate standalone mirror.

"My room," the Doctor explained. "The TARDIS has obviously combined our rooms. There is nowhere else for me to go."

"Oh!" Donna frantically blushed in embarrassment. "Do we still have en suites?"

"I'm assuming so," he remarked as he pulled himself gracefully up off the bed and went to investigate. After opening two doors, he informed her, "One walk-in wardrobe come dressing room, and one amalgamated en suite bathroom. It's quite large though."

Her cheeks flamed bright red, and she wondered if she'd ever get over this. "I see. No pressure then." She then self-consciously blew out her cheeks.

Wanting to appease her, he instantly suggested, "Why don't we worry about all this after we've had some of the food they've left us?"

"Good idea," she hurriedly agreed.

They both cautiously contemplated the items on the tray that he picked up and placed on the bed by her side. The Doctor even picked up a plate and sniffed the contents.

"Wheat based," he declared.

"Any idea what the rest of it is?" she asked expectantly.

He shook his head. "No, but it will be fun discovering. Probably something native to Hureenax, I'd say, that the TARDIS thoughtfully provided for them."

Donna took hold of what could have been a roll, a cake or a suppository. "Here goes. In for a penny, in for a pound." And she bit into it.

"Well?" he asked, as she chewed carefully.

She gave a cough. "Different! It does the trick but I wouldn't say I'd rush to try it again."

A fluttering of something fell from her mouth. "You've got…" The Doctor waved a nervous finger towards her chest since he could get thumped for noticing. "You've got some crumbs down the front of you; along with the filling."

"Oh for Pete's sake!" she loudly complained, looking down into her impressive cleavage. Well, the Doctor thought it was extremely impressive, whereas Donna merely found it annoying on a day to day basis. Today's annoyance was thanks to a large puddle of amber goo that was smeared over her chest. "It's dripped all over me. I'll have to wash it off before it completely ruins this bra."

"I'll carry you," he instantly offered as she climbed off the bed.

"No, it's okay," she insisted, holding onto the bed as she hopped along. "I think I can get there. Won't be a minute." Using other pieces of furniture to balance against, she hopped into the bathroom and shut the door.

Standing up, the Doctor quickly removed his sopping wet underpants, and gave himself the faintest of rubs in order to dry himself. 'Best not to risk doing more than that,' he decided. After finding where the dirty laundry basket had gone to, he threw his used underwear in, and then set to adjusting the pillows on the bed so that Donna could sit comfortably when she emerged from the bathroom. Having only just done that, he had turned to go and get clean briefs when Donna appeared in the doorway, looking slightly flustered.

"What's happened? Are you okay?" The words had hardly left his mouth before he was across the bedroom and guiding her safely to the bed.

"I'm fine, thanks," she uttered her gratefulness; hiding her mortification that she had removed her bra and knickers only to find that she hadn't picked up clean replacements first. Damn! That meant more hobbling about painfully. The sight of an eager Doctor greeting her had wrecked those plans. So she covered her emotions by adjusting the towel tightly wound around her body. "All this hopping about is a right pain. How much longer is it going to go on?"

Helping her to get to the bed, and then on it, he plumped pillows behind her back to aid her comfort. "If the TARDIS is extra nice to you, it might be healed when you wake up; otherwise it could be weeks."

"Weeks?!" Donna blurted out in fear, and then reached out a hand to stroke the wall nearest her. "Please be kind to me, please love. I'll do anything you want." She then turned her attention onto the Doctor who had found a cushion to place under her ankle. "What did she say, Spaceman? Any idea what I can bribe her with?"

Oh, he was loving this! "She's not saying anything yet, but she wants you to finish eating and then sleep for a while."

"She said that?" Donna pondered happily, and gave the wall another stroke. "Ain't you sweet thinking of me like that."

The Doctor grinned as he heard the TARDIS's response. "She thinks you are sweet too. Now come on, eat our delicious meal."

Both of their faces fell as they eyed the food.

"I'm sure the drink is nice," she offered as they forced the whatever-it-was down their throats. Taking a sip, she had to resist spitting it out. "Okay, perhaps not. Obviously an acquired taste. At least it is wet."

"And filling," he added, finishing off his own portions. "We'll have to give Jenny and Harden some cookery lessons, take them out and introduce them to some new culinary experiences."

"Sounds terrific," she agreed sleepily, yawning. "We'll do all of that after we've rescued Heiligtum, found them new digs, given the talk, and solved world peace."

"We've already solved world peace," he pointed out as he lay down and plonked his head on the pillow beside her.

"You did," she corrected. "All I did was act as bait. Did those Dreadel really all die?"

"Every one of them," he sadly confirmed as he scooted nearer. "The only sign of life on the planet is the settlement now. Talking of life, I forgot to personally check on Time Baby."

Having had the thought, he immediately moved towards his goal.

"Keep on top of the towel, Time Boy," she warned him as he shimmered down her body.

Placing his face onto the towelling covering her stomach, he soon realised why, and had to hide his pleased reaction. She was naked! To think they were both lying there in the same state…

'Concentrate,' he ordered himself as he mentally reached out to Time Baby. There was a mental buzz in reply. "He's perfectly fine," he happily stated, and pressed a kiss onto her body.

She really wished he hadn't down that where he had. It formed all sorts of unwanted ideas in her head. "Good," she forced herself to say. "Are you going to stay down there all day?"

Now there was a leading question! "No," he feebly answered. Crawling back up, something bubbled to awareness within him, knocking away his previous apprehension.

"What's got you so pleased?" she wondered. "You look like the cat that's got the cream."

"Oh I have," he insisted, returning to his previous spot by her head. "This is a good feeling. Great even. I have Jenny back, I've gained Harden or will soon do, and now I have got both you and Time Baby after having almost lost you today."

"And that's good?" A stupid question, but he was distracting her by moving closer. Really close now.

A wide grin lit up his face. "Very good!" he declared, wrapping his arms around her to embrace her lovingly and underline his sincerity.

Donna turned her head as the Doctor slowly pressed one delighted kiss after another on her face, managing to place a trail down from her temple to her cheek. Wanting to reward him in kind, she kissed first his cheek and then she caught the side of his mouth.

There was a moment where he sat stunned, pleasantly surprised by the unexpected pleasure of the feel of her lips against his; but without the obnoxious concoction in his mouth for this second time.

The easiness between them lying good-naturedly together on the comfortable bed made him risk going for another experience; one he had a readymade excuse for, ready and waiting. Without a moment's hesitation, he leaned further in and pecked at her lips.

To his surprise she allowed it.

So he did it again. And then again, until they were giving each other small kisses. Incremental kisses that grew into one large kiss that left them breathless with their audacity.

Breaking apart, he rested his forehead against hers. "Are you okay?" he whispered with suppressed glee.

"Yes. What about you?" she dared to ask, unable to believe they had just indulged in such an activity. Them, of all people!

Delighted that she'd asked, he replied, "I'm fine. Tired?"

She nodded, so he allowed himself to kiss her lips briefly one more time. Snuggling down, they both drifted off into sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** I was asked for slippage by **Duchess67** and **anyagotr**… how could I resist? And you might be able to guess which point I shall return for the DVD extra.

* * *

**Part 19**

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Having moved away to a spot in the bed that was cooler, the delicious warmth Donna had been enjoying had disappeared, so she rolled back and cuddled into the body there. It tried to move away, so she held on tighter, wondering why it was trying to disturb her sleep.

Beneath and above her in the bed, the Doctor had jumped awake at the change of sensation. Towelling was no longer pressed against his stomach; instead there was skin, skin and more tantalising skin! So he had tried to sit up, and had quickly donned his glasses as thoughts occurred to him. Thoughts of the unwelcome possible going to be slapped kind.

"Er… Donna?" he gently attempted to rouse her. "Donna love?" He then had to bite back down a groan as she slid a hand across his chest and headed southwards, stroking his flesh. "Come on, love; wake up," he softly begged whilst wanting her to continue stroking, and hopefully even more southwards. Damn! He was reacting to her tender touch, and consequential violence was imminent.

At last, Donna lifted her head and peered at him through sleepy eyes. He was gawping at her as though he was awed, which puzzled her deeply. Why would he do that? All she'd done to him was…. And that was when she looked down and saw exactly why!

Her towel had not only slipped down, it had disappeared, leaving her exposed to his sight; and her embarrassment was added to by the fact she had lifted up her shoulders too, giving him a wonderful view of her bare breasts. With a shriek of horror, she brought up a hand to cover her chest, inadvertently sitting up even more.

That was when the situation was compounded by another problem. Or, should I say, another piece of anatomy. One that belonged to the Doctor; and in that moment was pressing very firmly into her stomach. Dare she even look? Part of her brain reasoned: what did she expect? They were both lying naked together, had kissed properly for the first time, and if he was going to behave like any normal bloke, of course he would be aroused. It would be natural to be extremely affected. And apparently he was, judging by the way he was accidentally prodding her. His facial expression underlined this fact. How could she not feel sorry for him? He obviously thought he was about to be knocked into next week for reacting in this way. Perhaps that was why he had put his glasses on, so that she wouldn't hit him? 'His sexy specs,' she was appalled to hear herself think.

Panting, she breathily commented, "Houston, we have a problem."

"Since when have I been called 'Houston'?" the Doctor asked, hoping it would distract her attention away from thumping him one.

"Don't be so dense," she mocked. "I meant this…" She used a nod of her head to indicate their predicament. "The towel malfunction."

"Oh, the towel malfunction," he echoed in what he hoped was friendly tones. "Towels are notorious for not staying where they should do."

"Apparently so," she agreed. Oh God! What was she supposed to do now? Well… apart from the obvious urge to shag him senseless. Bloody pregnancy hormones! They'd be the death of her at this rate. Or embarrassment; that was trying desperately to kill her off too.

The Doctor realised that this was ridiculous! All they'd end up doing was just staring at each other if he didn't do something to rectify the situation. And the crimson flush on her skin was doing things to his libido that he didn't want to admit; not yet. Especially with the way it went all the way down to her… He gave a self-conscious cough. "I could find your errant towel and pull it back over you, but the truth is, I've already seen your breasts now; and once Time Baby is born, I'm likely to see quite a lot of them. There's no need to hide your beautiful body away," he tenderly said, smoothing his fingers over her shoulder in comfort.

"I'd have to get it out of its box then," she quipped, and gave him a brave smile.

He moved his hand so that he could guide her head towards him as he continued to speak. "I meant this body, right here, in front of me. You are beautiful Donna Noble," he purred.

"You forgot the Smith bit," she corrected him in order to fight off her embarrassment. I mean, a man, finding her beautiful. It wasn't your everyday occurrence.

"Are you really reminding me how married we are?" he mischievously teased her, his eyes sparkling with glee. "Because being married means that we can safely do this sort of thing. I can love and adore you."

She had relinquished her hold over her breasts by this point and was back to leaning on his chest, with his lips tantalisingly close. It took all she had not to bite his full bottom lip. How did he do that to her? The sexy… "Marriage doesn't necessarily mean adoring," she breathily countered.

"It does in this case," he softly insisted, and brought his mouth to rest on her face. First he kissed her eyes, then the tip of her nose as she quivered in anticipation, and then he landed gently on her mouth, pressing against her lips in invitation.

She instantly surged forward, and their lips meshed in a passionate kiss; their previous naked problem forgotten. All she wanted to do was feast on his delicious lips as they moved slid and glided with hers.

When their tongues met the kiss deepened, allowing exploration of tastes and sensations. His hands were also free to roam too; and he couldn't decide between luxuriating in her hair or smoothing a path over her bare bottom, so he chose both. Moan after groan they shared as they undulated together, wanting to find the perfect position to enjoy kissing each other.

Then Donna pulled away, halting his movement to follow her. "We need to stop, or we'll end up doing something we regret," she argued.

He smiled with tender amusement, his eyes luminous in the half-light. "What is going to happen to regret? You're already pregnant, and we've had the shotgun wedding. Why don't we enjoy the part that everyone assumes we've already had?" To add to his argument, he rubbed his hand suggestively up and over the part of her breasts he could reach. "I'll make it lots of fun," he purred.

It was on the tip of her tongue to scorn his confidence; but then he reapplied those lips of his, and she was instantly won over. Body and soul. All she could do was cry out "Yes" several times.

* * *

When Jenny peeped through into the darkened room, unable to see anything beyond blurred shapes, they were sound asleep wrapped around each other in the bed.

"Dad! Dad?! Where are you?" The bedroom door was wrenched open. "Oh!" Jenny gasped loudly as she entered the room. "Sorry to disturb you but I was wondering when we'd get back to Heiligtum." It was all well and good him lying about, but she was full of beans and raring to go!

"Where?" The Doctor roused himself from sleep, unwilling to move from his comfy space. "Oh yes, Heiligtum. Give me a minute or two to dress please, Jenny. Then I'll meet you in the console room."

She shot a glance towards Donna still asleep in his arms as he gently manoeuvred her to the side, making sure she was adequately covered up. "Isn't Donna coming?"

He shook his head at her naivety. "No, let her sleep on. She needs to heal a lot more, and sleep is the best method. Now run along, there's a good girl."

"Dad!" Jenny complained. "I've been their leader and goddess for quite a while now."

"And I've been a Time Lord for centuries," he pointed out as he made sure the towel he'd grabbed was still firmly secure around his waist, and then eased himself from out of the bedcovers. Jenny just stood there watching him, so he bobbed his eyebrows to display his confusion. "Is there something else you wanted to ask me?"

"It's Hardy… I mean Harden," she admitted. "I'm worried about him."

Since she was refusing to leave, he twirled a finger to denote that she turn her back; which thankfully she did. In a few seconds he had on his clean underpants underneath his towel. "Well? What are you worried about?" he wondered as he considered donning a nearby shirt and postponed the action until later.

Jenny turned then to face him. "I think you'd better come and see. I left him in the library," she said and started to lead the way. "I'll show you."

Miffed that he couldn't at least get dressed first, the Doctor followed on behind, wondering if this really was worth the effort, as the TARDIS wasn't feeding him any distressing information about the boy. He strode purposefully towards the library, deciding to just get this over and done with. When they got there, things were exactly as he had expected.

"Do you see what I mean?" Jenny queried as they entered and saw Harden draped over one of the large settees within the library, its soft leather hugging his form, and his arms wrapped around a cushion he had decided to cuddle in his sleep.

"What's the problem?" the Doctor wondered, seeing no problem whatsoever.

"He's got no stamina!" Jenny declared. "That isn't right! One minute he was still talking to me as we looked through books and the next he was like this, fast asleep. Don't try and tell me that is normal."

The Doctor stood over Harden, feeling really sorry that the lad had collapsed there not knowing where he was supposed to go in order to sleep. "I'm afraid it is for humans, Jenny." He peered closer, and was surprised to note how young Harden really was. Obviously his usual daily countenance underlined how tense and fraught he had been, particularly when they had sought to rescue Donna. "Harden was exhausted, and when that happens, they are like light bulbs going out. All the life disappears."

"But Dad," Jenny grumbled, obviously miffed that her companion had suddenly deserted her, "that shouldn't have happened because we had found a particularly interesting book about the biology of sex, but it had been all diagrams. Now, I already knew what my external genitals look like, however, I don't know what a male's look like so I asked Harden to show me his."

Something cold gripped the Doctor's hearts in a mild panic. "And?" he encouraged her to continue. "What happened next?"

Jenny shrugged dismissively. "He went a bit weird. First he went all shy, saying that he couldn't show me, and then he went extremely angry, refusing to do so. I really don't understand his problem. It's only science, for goodness sake!"

Unable to resist laughing, the Doctor pointed out, "Humanoids do not tend to display their genitals unless they are about to mate, or want to arouse their partner to mate. It's a very strict taboo in some societies."

She glared at him, wanting to retaliate. "If that's the case, then I want to know what the true purpose of the towel you are still wearing, because I know it isn't nightwear. How does it really function? Would it be taboo for you to display for me, since your intention would not be to mate?"

Much to Jenny's confusion, he spluttered in shock, biting down on a haughty, "Time Lords do not display...!" He then changed his tune to, "I wish Donna was here. She needs to tell you this."

"But you said…," she weakly countered, not knowing where to take her argument.

To break the conversation, he guided Jenny to where some blankets were. "Jenny, go to the cupboard over there. There are some blankets you can use to cover up Harden as he sleeps to keep him warm."

"Yes, Dad," she eagerly obeyed, and pulled out two covers they could use.

Whilst she carried out her task, he mental reached out to the TARDIS to provide a room for her. "The TARDIS has a lovely room ready for you just down the hall." He suggested, "Why don't you go and rest there for a while since the humans won't be moving for several hours."

"They obviously have a biological design fault," she complained.

"True," he agreed, "but it's something we can adapt to. Go on, go and rest. It's been a long day. I'll set the coordinates and then I'll let you know when we've landed."

"Okay, Dad. See you later," she threw at him as she headed towards an enticing bedroom door in the opposite direction.

Having seen her off, he went to set the coordinates for Heiligtum, and then he hurried back to Donna in the bedroom. He wasn't keen to miss seeing her wake up, for reasons he was still not prepared to admit.


End file.
